Biohazard Album: “State of the World Address”

Biohazard's "State of the World Address" is,simply put,a top-notch album.They're a great band;very talented,socially aware,and did I mention a great band? I love everything they've done,but this album is my favorite.Their high-energy sound is a brutal hardcore/metal hybrid,but also has a lot of groove and soul to it.Danny Schuller is an awesome drummer,he lays down some really driving beats.The guitar work,courtesy of Billy Graziadei and Bobby Hambel (who was later replaced with Rob Ecchoveria,formerly of Helmet) is also great,complete with head-banging riffs and piercing leads.Evan Seinfeld's bass is pulsing,driving,groove-driven,and to me,inspirational-I'm a bassist too! Billy and Evan are also the lead vocalists-having two singers oftentimes doesn't work,but the Hazard executes it brilliantly.Also,I love when Billy sings a line,and Evan repeats it in a shouting tone (you'll hear what I mean).The lyrics are also excellent.For the most part,it tells about growing up in the inner city,and dealing with the problems that urban life has to offer,such as drugs,gangs,racism,etc. Some people think Biohazard should have more variety lyricaly,but I think what they have works great.They've obviously been through a lot of hard times,and the lyrics are a perfect reflection of that.Also,in the song "Remember" they pay tribute to our Vietnam veterans,who usualy don't get nearly enough respect. They have a very positive message,they oppose racism,gang violence,and all the other things that plague society.I can't pick a favorite track,because they're all so freakin' great! I highly reccomend this album,it's a hardcore masterpiece! If your reading this,and you don't have this record,buy it A.S.A.P.,you won't regret it.In closing,I'll point out certain things to watch for:A sample of Harvey Keitel's dialogue from "Reservoir Dogs" (one of my favorite movies) at the beggining of "Lack There Of",a 2-minute flemenco/classical intro to "Failed Territory" (a very innovative thing for a hardcore band to do),and if you let track 14 ("Love Denied") play all the way through,you can hear the band singing an accapella about tattoos,which is something I really liked,being tattooed myself.I'm not sure if that bit appears on the cassette,because I've only heard the CD, but listen for it anyway,it's cool (and you can also hear Sendog of Cypress Hill,who appears on "How It Is" singing in the background of this "tattoo song".) Bottom line...BUY THIS ALBUM!!!!

I believe "State of the World Address" is the best album Biohazard has released to date, although I'm sure there are many Biohazard fans out there who would contend that "Urban Discipline", which I think isn't even as good as "Mata Leao", is better. Biohazard do a great job of putting melancholy street-life lyrics ("How It Is" & Tales From the Hard Side") to awesome wailing lead guitar riffs and solid drum and bass work. Evan does a good job of growl/rapping in many of the tracks on SWA (check out "How It Is") without sounding bad since his voice and delivery of his lyrics go well with the music. Some of my favorite tracks on this album include: "5 Blocks to the Subway", "Cornered", "Love Denied", and "Tales From the Hardside". If you have yet to buy a Biohazard album, or have bought only Biohazard albums that have been released since 1999, then you really ought to treat yourself and buy this one.

I was a huge Biohazard fan from 6th grade all the way to senior year of high school. Obviously, as I've grown older my tastes have drifted since my days of nonstop Biohazard listening. But here and there I go back and listen to them, and a lot of the stuff is still good. I think that 'State of the World Address' is the best representation of Biohazard. This is the first album I bought from them. No band around this era of time ('94) was combining metal and rap together (well, maybe some bands were but they weren't very good at it.) Biohazard are pioneers at what they created. The songs were truthful, sometimes positive, aware and politically conscious. This is and will always be their best album.

Over time, I don't know what happened to Biohazard. Their last decent album was New World Disorder. After that, they went downhill. They began changing their sound a lot and they're lyrics turned to crap. It's all negativity now. What a waste!

Here's a little review of the albums:

Biohazard (1990) - Kind of cheesy. Bad production. Not really worth buying.

Urban Discipline (1992) - Excellent. Biohazard found their sound on this one.

State of the World Address (1994) - Very good. Musically, a ten. Very well thought out album

Mata Leao (1996) - A more hardcore album. They tried something different on this one. Songs are very short and to the point. Very excellent lyrics though. I'm a fan of this fan.

No Holds Barred (1997) - Live album. Not a big fan of live album but this one is worth checking out.

New World Disorder (1999) - Some really good songs on this one like 'Switchback' and 'Skin.' Good production.

Uncivilization (2001) - Really, really weak album. One good song. This is when they went downhill. The lyrics are atrocious. At one point they say, "I'm gonna f***ing kill you!" C'mon.

Kill or be Killed (2003) - I didn't even buy this one because I knew it was gonna suck. Again, like the last album, the lyrics are violent and pathetic. Don't buy it.

With 'State of the World Address', Biohazard members reached perfection in their unique hard-core/metal style. To my own opinion, they have never issued such a good album again. It's hard to tell what I felt listening these (ALL) terrific songs when they got released ten years ago... Then, Biohazard was the band I used to revere the most at this time and, 'State of...' remained in my top of the list for a very long time...

this is the last of the great biohazard cds.they took the brooklyn style to new levels and real showed their talents musical.they real let loose a wave of hardcore in you face fury and showed new styles of songs not the same old stuff new and improved hard hitting tunes.they had a fast rise to big league record companies and sucess in a couple of years but this came at a price. after several great tours including pantera,slayer machine head to house of pain/korn the tour the world and rocked it.but then the Hambell incident(which cause 11 years of lead guitarist changes and not one could do the job right.)I personally met bobby Hambel in trenton,NJ city gardens and he was a great guy to talk to too cool.This cd is the last stand in my eyes great from start to finish,they has better song writting and money behind them for the sound quality.this was a agressive cd,but with more mature subjects,hard in you face choruses and truly killer all around songs.I think this rise was too fast and the preasure was too much-in 6 years touring in the punisher mini van , a new then closed up record company and small show of 500 then to touring round the world in tour busses and hotels and a large record company hounding you it's alot of presure then loss one of the original members too much to hold the line.I think this is why the last 11 years of cds are not nearly up to the first 3 or means to an end(great cd).this is one of 4 biohazard must have cds.