BIOHAZARD

It was a reunion that few expected. By the time BIOHAZARD released what would turn out to be their last album for 13 years, they came across as a spent force. 2012's "Reborn In Defiance" was not a bad record by any means, but the gritty charisma that had seen the Brooklyn band through the previous 15 years had all but been erased. It came as little surprise when they swiftly disappeared, leaving vocalist / guitarist Billy Graziadei to his various side-projects, POWERFLO and BILLYBIO among them, and co-frontman Evan Seinfeld to embark on an unlikely but ultimately convincing career as an actor, most notably in US prison drama "Oz". But, according to legend, you are never too old to rock 'n' roll, and the news that the band's original lineup was reconvening for another crack at glory came as a wonderful surprise. "Divided We Fall" is the result, and fans of vicious mosh pits and recreational sports vest wearing rejoiced. BIOHAZARD were always harder than the rest and even as they approach their sixties, there is little doubt that they would not be doing this if there was any chance that it would fall flat.

A band that meant what they said and caused as much carnage as possible along the way, BIOHAZARD made such enduring music during their first ten years that expectations are understandably high for their return. Few records encapsulated the cross-genre chaos of the '90s better than 1994's "State of the World Address", and few records sounded more likely to smash your face in than 1992's "Urban Discipline", but the rest of the band's catalogue is wildly variable and sometimes disappointing. "Divided We Fall" needs to tap into that early magic without sounding like some lazy retread, and that is exactly what it does. Vests, as they say, at the ready.

This is an album designed to respect BIOHAZARD's roots, while making something fresh and ferocious out of them. Graziadei, Seinfeld, guitarist Bobby Hambel and drummer Danny Schuler are on blistering form and clearly motivated to make their 10th album count. As if to confirm the uncompromising mood these veterans find themselves in, "Fuck the System" kicks things off with a fiery, groove-driven attack that rolls back the years to the early '90s, when hardcore and metal collided in a shower of teeth. Diehard fans will rejoice, because this is such a wholesale return to the quartet's classic sound that it would work as a legitimate successor to "Mata Leão" (1996) or even "State of the World Address". Age has not withered these guardians of the street, and their collective delivery is as potent as it ever was.

The production reflects that, too. Raw and gnarly, but undeniably powerful, BIOHAZARD arrive in 2025 sounding more stripped down and authentically hardcore than we could have hoped. Songs like "Forsaken" and "Eyes on Six" waste no time with guest cameos or hip-hop detours. Instead, this is the same brutal cacophony that made them such an essential force 30 years ago. Massive riffs that owe equal amounts to punk rock and thrash metal, a dual vocal attack that bristles with authority, and lyrics that ponder the exact same issues that BIOHAZARD were concerned with when they were much younger men: this could, in fairness, be an exercise in cosy nostalgia, but these songs are too heavy, too violent and too defiant to be grist for the heritage mill. From the lurching menace of "Death of Me" and the rap-adjacent "S.I.T.F.O.A." , to the anthemic "I Will Overcome" (which repays HATEBREED for their obvious kinship) and the smash-everything riot metal of "Warriors", this is music made by an older and wiser band, but the youthful intensity of "Urban Discipline" still burns at the heart of every riff and raucous gang vocal. More importantly, perhaps, "Divided We Fall" is full of songs that will automatically convert to the live arena, with sweaty and possibly bloody consequences. The best BIOHAZARD album for 31 years, this is a classy comeback, and it's great to have them back.