After "Tales From The Hardside" sucked me into the Crossover Thrash world of NYC's Biohazzard I couldn't help but check out their sophomore full length which critics often site as their best record. Where State Of World Address captured my interest, their prior release Urban Discipline owns it. Filled with fist thumping grooves, lively gang shouts and the aggressive "in your face" raps of front men Evan and Billy, Biohazzard get us fired up with adrenaline soak tunes to stomp along with.
Demanding self respect with an attitude, words come from the inner strength, street hard mentality to point the finger at societies woes with a voice of reason to shine focus on apparent hypocrisies. Every song has a stance to hold ground and grit your teeth as guitars slam in with Hardcore dance floor movers between power chord thrashings to pull intensities from two avenues. Most the songs play off this dichotomy as gang shouts often throttle us from the lineage of chord arrangements to low end chugging slams.
With a rather chromatic, dated production the songs benefit from a consistent, slightly dulled tone that doesn't over emphasis musical shifts with bombastic, audacious instruments. Instead the muted clarity lets the gear shifts creep up on you with the next riffs magic taking you by surprise. Even after plenty of spins I find them catching me off guard as the music outpaces its dated production. The base drum kick would be all but lost if not for heavy syncopation and the snare has a harsh rattle but the drums still rock the grooves and hold the music together.
At the front of the music the thuggish rapping duo have remarkable charm when it comes to energy and passion as their liveliness makes mockery of the flat sung notes and narrow shouts the two pull off. My favorite song "Business" is loaded with off notes as they push beyond their vocal range. The fantastic lyrics, heartfelt charisma and intense guitars make it a personal highlight for me. "Music's for you and me! Not the fucking industry". The production dulls its glowing energy somewhat but can't stop it from being a real skull cracker in the opening half. It lets itself down towards the end as it draws out with various ideas and experiments that don't quite work out as well.
Favorite Tracks: Chamber Spins Three, Business, Man With A Promise
Rating: 7/10