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| BIOHAZARD
was founded in 1988 in bloody district of New York City – Brooklyn.
Their original lineup consisted of guitarist/vocalist Billy Graziadei, bassist/vocalist
Evan Seinfeld, guitarist Bobby Hambel, and drummer Danny Schuler. They formed
Biohazard for the purpose of expressing political viewpoints and discussing
problems facing urban youth, which all of the members had experience dealing
with themselves. They think all people should be 'Down For Life' wich means
that they should be loyal to their friends and family, 'cause they're the
only ones to back you up. There is BIO fanclub called Down For Life (DFL).
It unites the most hardcore Biofans(called DFLers) around the world.
Biohazard began opening for local hardcore and thrash bands and gradually built a large following through their outraged sense of injustice, political awareness, and constant touring. Inspired by (but not limited to): Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Run DMC, Bad brains, Judas Priest, Cro-Mags, Public Enemy, The Ramones, Agnostic Front, the band set out to create a musical hybrid that would transcend easy categorization and not be bound by limitation. Biohazard was one of the first bands to mix heavy metal and hardcore with elements of hip-hop and rap. In
1990 they signed their first label at a little record-company which is
called Maze Records, Biohazard also released their first LP there, which
is published under the name "Biohazard". It sold over 40.000
copies, this bad quantity was based on poor promotion. This album was
all about Brooklyn, the gang-wars, drugs, violence, etc. After releasing
their debut in 1990, Biohazard set out on their path for world domination.
Returning from their first European tour, they realized that the problems
they sang about on their first record were not limited to their Brooklyn
hometown.
Biohazard went on to release the fourth album called Mata Leao two years later. It was produced for the second time at Warner Brothers with the help of Dave Jerden. Biohazard recorded it with only three members: Evan, Billy, Danny. Without a lead guitarist, but you can hear that it is a great piece of work. The title means, "to kill the lion" and, in a sense, they discovered that their ambitions would lead them to do just that. By facing their fears head on, defeating their inner demons and looking around the globe for answers, the band found the truth inside themselves. Battling drug and alcohol abuse, inter-band strife, record labels folding, merging and abandoning them for more pop flavors, Biohazard staggered like a champion fighter, but never went down. During these difficult years, Biohazard succeeded in sticking it out together. For the Mata Leao Tour in 1996, the band needed a talented lead guitarist, so they choosed the ex-Helmet guitarist Rob Echeverria. With the assistance of Rob they published their first live record "No Holds Barred" in 1997. The whole album was recorded in Hamburg with the helping hands of Roadrunner Records. After
that the band signed to Mercury Records and released the critically acclaimed
the fifth record called New World Disorder in 1999. Everything was done
again with the help of Ed Stasium, but this time in New York City. In
the same year, Biohazard toured for "New World Disorder" among
other things in Europe, for example at Rock am Ring / Rock im Park or
at the Bizarre festival in Cologne. A
few month ago, Rob has left the band, he wants to settle down and get
married. Fortunately they found a new lead guitarist, his name is Leo
Curley. In the meantime Biohazard signed new record deals with SPV/Steamhammer
for Europe and Sanctuary for the rest of the world. Billy tried to use his music skills in a trip-hop “massive attackish” project called BLU. The band consists of two members: Billy and a woman Jeni Bair(vocalist). The bands' hard work had earned respect has also brought Billy into the journalism world. Currently working on a collection of "Tales from the Hardside" for later release, you can find some of these tales in magazines like Metal Hammer and FAQ (to name a few) where he has his own monthly column Danny also undertook some activities outside Biohazard. He joined New York's band called AMONG THIEVES as a replacement for Will Shepler (ex-AGNOSTIC FRONT/MADBALL). Also during this time, Billy and Danny transformed the bands infamous rehearsal studio/hangout in downtown Brooklyn into a world class digital recording studio now know as Rat Piss Studios. Re-investing into the band, Billy and Danny honed their engineering and productions skills while recording/producing local acts and new Biohazard demos. Armed with a truckload of new music, the band undertook the difficult process of writing, recording and producing their own music. In september of 2001 they released their sixth studio LP (except NHB & Tales From The B-Side) “Uncivilization”. The album features guests the likes of Roger Miret(Agnostic Front), Jamie Jasta of Hatebreed, Phil Anselmo(Pantera), Corey from Slipknot and also mate from Skarhead – Lord Ezec. Unfortunately some months after releasing of “Uncivilization” Biohazard parted ways with Leo Curley. Curley's departure was caused by his desire to write his own material, a prospect which proved virtually impossible in an act that has been composing songs as a three-piece since BIOHAZARD's split with original guitarist Bobby Hambel in the mid-1990s. The split with Leo was mutual, no bad feelings. Biohazard have replaced Leo with former NUCLEUS axeman Carmine Vincent. Vincent is no stranger to the BIOHAZARD camp, having previously traveled with the group as a roadie in addition to having supported BIOHAZARD as the bassist/vocalist for NUCLEUS during a tour of Europe in late 2000. Brand new Biohazard album was recorded with Carmine and entitled "Kill Or Be Killed" (2003) and is the most brutal and heaviest to date. |