Terror
After a two-minute silence at eight o’clock to commemorate all the victims of World War II, Terror takes over. The band kicks off with the title track (and probably best song) of their recent MCD, “Lowest Of The Low”. The sound is shit, but because the pissed off old school hardcore Terror plays isn’t very complicated, the band still sounds powerful as fuck. The band members go nuts on stage, and the energetic performance manages to get the crowd moving.

Vocalist Scott tries to get the crowd as excited as possible, and psyches himself up so much he can hardly string more than a sentence together, from sheer enthusiasm. Most people came to see Biohazard play and the majority of the crowd choose to watch from a safe distance, but after half a set the pit starts to get bigger and people start to sing along to better-known songs like “Better Off Without You” and “What Have We Done”. The band is exciting to watch, and at the end of their show the crowd reward the effort with a couple of authentic circle-pits.

Not a single Terror-song clocks in at more than two and a half minutes, so within half an hour the band play their entire MCD and one new song. The new song isn’t as fast as the rest of the material, but makes up for that with a lot of excellent mosh parts. The sound quality is a bit better (and a lot louder) at the end of the show, but I’ve still heard a lot better. Another great show by this Californian band, I’m looking forward to hearing a lot more from them.

Caliban
Even though I can’t hear a lot of Biohazard-influences (none, to be exact) in Caliban’s music, I guess touring all over Europe to promote their latest album Shadow Hearts with the boys from Brooklyn must still be a treat for this German band. The band starts with a couple of songs from Shadow Hearts and continue with older songs like “Assassin Of Love”, “Fire Of Night” and “Tyranny Of Small Misery”. Singer Andy only needs one song to get warmed up, but from that point on his voice is terrific: from high shrieks to low grunts without losing any power

The band plays tight as ever, but the circumstances do not help them a lot. Although the sound has improved after Terror’s show, things still aren’t great, because the metalcore Caliban serves up is a lot harder to get into if you are not familiar with the songs. Despite the difficulty of the music, the band still rock pretty hard on stage, but their singer steals the show with his great performance.

Biohazard
The last time I walked away from a Biohazard-gig saying “Fuck yeah!” must be at least six years ago. The few times I saw the band since were predictable and unfulfilling to say the least. The New Yorkers received a lot of criticism on their previous album Uncivilization, but they have a new album (called Kill Or Be Killed) and a new lead guitarist (called Carmine) and they’re back in Europe to set a few things straight. Biohazard starts the show with crowd favourites “Shades Of Grey” and “What Makes Us Tick” to set the stage for what’s to come: a parade of classics that puts many, many bands to shame

The guys are in good shape and play like they’ve just begun their second youth, to which the crowd responds by starting a massive moshpit. As we all know, more than half the songs played during a Biohazard show were written before 1995, but everybody in the venue eats out of the guy’s tattooed hands and the whole thing feels like 1995 all over again. Songs like “Wrong Side Of The Tracks”, “Urban Discipline”, “Music”, “Love Denied”, “DFL” and even “Scarred For Life”, almost a dinosaur from the debut album, can count on massive response from the audience, but NEVER sound like the band is playing them ‘on automatic pilot’. The new album doesn’t get forgotten of course, and songs like “Beaten Senseless”, “Kill Or Be Killed” and “Never Forgive, Never Forget” (which deals with the September 11th situation) sound as aggressive as the earliest Bio-material.

The performance the band lays down on stage is awesome, and Carmine is the first guy to make me think ‘Bobby who?’. The band can consider themselves lucky with this guy and should try to hold on to him for longer than an album, because he’s a great addition to the band. Most of the songs played are expected during a Biohazard show, but the Bad Religion cover “We’re Only Gonna Die” was a pleasant surprise. The band still has little love for authority, because Evan and especially Billy piss off the two security goons in a hilarious manner (“I give you 20 Euros if you dare to stage dive. It’s easy, look!” He gives his guitar to a roadie and dives into the crowd). Members from Terror and Caliban join forces with ‘the Haz’ to play a somewhat chaotic version of traditional set-closer “Hold My Own” to end a show that will definitely end up in my personal year-list. Biohazard is once again The Almighty Biohazard. Respect!

Pics by Minerva Scavo. Biohazard pics from archives

(Review & Pics: Jasper Klein)