Background
Biohazard formed on the bloody streets of Brooklyn in I think it was 1988. With a batallion of albums under their belt, each unique and varied, they stand the test of time as one of the premier rap/metal pioneers. Although one of the father figures of rap/metal, evans rapping was always like the older, hamfisted brother of rap. Thankfully for this release, they drop the rapping altogether in favour of pure aggression. They have, over the years gone through an arsenal of lead guitarists including : Bobby Hambel, Rob Echeverria and even going "solo" as a 3 piece for Mata Leao. This release see's them grind to a new edge with Carmine Matteliano, unfortunatly he is not touring with them at the moment I believe.
Album Info
Album Name : Kill or Be Killed
Artist : Biohazard
Drums : Danny Schuler Vocals/Bass : Evan Sienfield Guitar/Vocals : Billy Grazadei Lead Guitar : Carmine Matteliano
Released 2003 through Steamhammer SP
Tracks in more detail
Intro
The Intro seems rather pointless, its a collection of feedback, guitar strums and other nonsensical stuff. It sets the mood rather well, but clocking in at under 30 seconds, it could have been added to World on Fire.. but then.. how would we skip it? ;)
World on Fire
World on Fire, the opener for Kill or be Killed starts off with some brutal drumming, that continues through this song (and the rest of the album). A good song, but somehow seems disjointed from the rest of the album. A good pit song.
Never Forgive, Never Forget
NFNF starts off with a stringy little guitar piece, that quickly decends into hardcore chaos, The verse almost seems rapped, but i'd dare to call it rap. It fits. Billy's singing is above par as usual, making good use of chants as biohazard have aptly done in the past.
Kill or be Killed
KOBK, the title track of the album, with an infectious chorus, a dangerous verse and some more brutal drumming, does justice to the name. The chanting could have been louder. But again, it fits. A strong and apt title track.
Heads Kicked In
I could have done without Evans spiel at the start, but the bass really shows through in this song. A thing that has been lacking in the past few biohazard albums.
Beaten Senseless
Best track on the album in my opinion. I went around school singing the chorus of this song in an annoying chipmunk voice, and got my friend hooked on it. Nice chanting, the right volume. The breakdown is sweet, hardcore and I can imagine it really getting the pit started.
Make my Stand
I dunno about the start of this song. It kicks into a sorta verse kinda thing. The chorus kicks some serious *** though, with billy and evan trading screams , "You can take away, the weapon from my hand. But you can never change who i am, Make my stand" The breakdown again, kicks *** with Billy speaking/growling along. And I almost forgot, this song has my favourite guitar solo of all time, it's not complex, shocking or revelatory, but the tone is nice, it melts faces.
Open your eyes
Starts off slowly, kicking into a nice riff that probably wont get the pits too vicious, but its a teaser of whats to come. The chorus to this song is a ripper. The solo is cool also, but not too special.
Penalty
Nice song, all about cause and effect. Nice chorus, nice words. Nice music. Nice song. Nice chanting. Nice. Not great. Nice.
Dead to me
A lacklustre song with a pretty cool chorus. Starts slowly, with a grinding drum beat and guitars that will get your ears perked, followed by another nice little bass bit, i love those bass bits. A nice chorus from Evan, with his low growl showing through.
Hallowed Ground
Hallowed ground is different from the other tracks, starting with a clean guitar intro, that decends into slower driving thrash-ish sort of mayhem. The chorus is intirely chant, which i cant get enough of, best chorus of the album i'd say. The verse is evan, with a somewhat different approach bellowing "You can run but you cant hide" and Billy screaming about politicians ;). A good song. Could have done without the gimmicky spoken word at the end, it incorporates all the song names into a somewhat cliche line.
Overall
A good solid album from some masters. I like it, and it's probably my favourite to date. A real hardcore effort. If you're a fan of biohazard, be sure to pick it up. If you're new to biohazard, start of with some of the earlier stuff like State of the World Address. One thing that really pissed me off was the cocking-up of the track names on the back of the cd, the album was originally called Never Forgive, Never forget, had a different cover and I assume had the tracklisting thats on the back, I also assume they just forgot to change it when they changed around the cd. It is annoying when WMP tells me the wrong names. Biohazard have another album being worked on as I type, that should be due out next year. I cant wait. Rock on.
:thumb: :thumb: :thumb: :thumb: (and a half) / 5
-- Bongo
