Biohazard - Tales from the Camden side!

Biohazard ****1/2 have gathered a reputation as a great live act and last time they played the Camden Underworld they really caused a storm, so tonight was bound to be a good show for them. Their is a few doubters on their sound now from old school Biohazard fans after long serving bassist Evan Seinfeld had left the band a few years previous, but this people have nothing to worry about because they have got a good replacement in the form of Scott Roberts who actual played guitar for the band back in 2002 so was the perfect man to make up the ranks. 

If your a Biohazard fan or not you have to admit they have some great live determination and good stage presence. I have to admit I had lost my way with them a little over the years but I remember when 'Tales from the hard Side' came out on orange 10' vinyl and I played it non stop for ages. This song really hit me hard as a kid a long with their great performance at Donnington 'Monsters of Rock' in 1994 which was a momentous event for the band in their whole existence.

They open up proceedings with 'Shades of Grey' off one of their heaviest albums 'Urban Discipline' an album that you wouldn't believe was released way back in 1992 it has a heavy Punk / Metal / Hardcore sound that Minor Threat or Discharge would have been happy to call theirs. The heaviness of this track has increased in it's live incarnation and really starts the concert off in the right direction it needs to go.

Biohazard is a band that coups well under pressure and as countless crazy crowd surfers come over still keep a good on stage rhythm which is helped by the clarity of the bands sound in a venue that takes no prisoners, when it comes to sound. They continue with the extra heaviness on the title track of the said mentioned album and you are instantly brought in to the set. 'What makes us Tick' is a chanting Esq. anthem of zero tolerance about what makes the World tick off the album 'State of the World Address' and lays down a great pattern for the rest of the set.

Biohazard sometimes take you to 'The Wrong side of the Tracks' and take you back again and you feel that you could be moshing back in Broklyn, New York City were the band come from, but their is a great Italian connection on show tonight with most of the bands of the bill being Italian or having members that are Italian. I think singer Billy Graziadei is honouring his roots and keeping the gig all in the family, I always have thought you should look after your friends and put them on the bill with you. So I really respect that. I also like the fact that Biohazard respect all their material and play a good number of songs of each album from their past, this shows confidence in their work and gives the fans what they want. Anyone coming to the show would be happy with their choice of songs so will feel they have got good value for money.

'Reborn' really kicks off tonight and has a great vibe to it, this is a song that you can really participate so is a live favourite amongst Biohazard fans and is one I really like myself also continues onto some of the bands strongest songs 'Vengeance is Mine' and the infamous 'Tales from the hard Side' the track I loved as a kid and none of these disappoint. Ok Biohazard aren't the most technical of bands and some of their songs are a little simplistic but if you have a formula that works why mess with it, so many bands have done that and messed themselves out and actually the guitar work by Bobby Hambel is pretty good tonight and he really goes for it and actually collapses at the end of the set in a corner of the stage.

If you want a band that plays for three hours though go see Coldplay because Biohazard are not that kind of band, the intensity they play with is too strong to keep up a three hour set so their about hour fifteen minutes if that is just a full throttle explosion of adrenaline and power. This is not stadium Rock this is meant for a seedy club in a city under the ground, so the Camden Underworld is perfect for Biohazard.

'Remember' and 'Victory' are steady sluggers before the band fades you out with 'Black and white and red all Over' and the dramatic set closer 'We only gonna Die' which really blasts you into submission. This is an intense dramatic set by a great New York band and I would recommend it to people that want to get some frustration out of their system, this is not a band for the faint hearted though and you have to not mind stage divers and crowd surfers and circle pits because their are loads of these on show tonight.

You also will get pushed around a bit so if you don't like that just don't turn up, but all in all it's a great night with Biohazard and I did join in with the jumping around. It was nice to be a kid again going make to the hard side. I look forward to when they come back again because I really enjoyed it all and will be dusting out all my old Biohazard records for another listen, well worth checking out!

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