Biohazard
's
Urban Discipline
introduced the band's one-of-a-kind, Brooklyn
thrash-rap
sound to hardcore fans outside the five boroughs. It's an authentic mix of inner-city vocal rhythms with
metal
's take-no-prisoners attitude, one that granted them international credibility.
is an original hardcore
metal-rap
album, debuting a half-decade prior to the
rap-rock
explosion of the late '90s. It is defiant and distinctive -- in some senses a precursor of bands such as
Korn
,
Limp Bizkit
, and
the Deftones
, and in other ways in a class all its own. It's not the self-indulgent, "I-gotta-get-mine"
of the late '90s, as it's loaded with social criticism. It's a blue-collar
record made by rough-shod, tattooed, fighting men. The album's highlight is
"Punishment,"
a hard-charging anthem with a surprisingly melodic chorus. This hook was strong enough to earn them moderate playtime on
MTV
, even though nothing else sounded like them at the time.Though intended merely as simple music for slam dancing,
does well to mix things up within those parameters. The group successfully rearranged their typical song structure with divergent bass, drum, and guitar parts in
"Shades of Grey."
They're technically competent enough to implement light crescendos and decrescendos, tempo variation, and a diffuse focus of the instruments within the band. It's not
Mozart
, but it is one of the most authentic combinations of
thrash
and
rap
ever made. ~ Kieran McCarthy