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BIOHAZARD
was founded in 1988 in bloody district of NYC Brooklyn. The
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.
After
a long time of fighting about a good record label, Biohazard finally
got it's contract with Roadrunner Records. In 1992, the band released
the classic URBAN DISCIPLINE, which went on to sell over 1,000,000 copies
worldwide. Consequently, Biohazard became support of bigger acts such
as House Of Pain, Sick Of It All, Fishbone and Kyuss. Spawning from this
record was the video for the track "Punishment" which was the
most played video in the history of MTV's Headbanger's Ball and is still
regarded as one of the most influential records of the nineties.
In 1993, the hard-core rap group Onyx recorded an alternate version
of their hit single "Slam" with Biohazard backing them up.
This led to both bands collaborating on the title song for the groundbreaking
Judgement Night soundtrack, which sold over 2,000,000 copies in the US.
In the same year they changed to Warner Brothers Records Inc. and published
their third and most successful studio LP "State Of The World Address".
It was produced in winter`94 in Los Angeles with Ed Stasium. In 1994
Biohazard again was touring the entire planet and drawing strength from
their loyal fans. SOTWA went on to sell over 1,000,000 copies and spawned
the hit single and video "How It Is" featuring Sen-Dog from
Cypress Hill. This album was up to now the most controversial Biohazard
LP. It criticized the sharp and clear thinking of the band. After this
little conflict the Rolling Stone Magazine selected the Biohazard logo
for the best logo of the year. The third LP also was the last one for
Bobby, who left the band a few times later.
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. Feeling betrayed and misunderstood
by their label, the band left Mercury amidst the mass artist genocide
that occurred with the merger of Mercury, Island, Def Jam and Polygram
into Universal. In 2000, operating on their survival instincts, the band
re-grouped and launched a highly successful European/Japan tour with
no record label or managerial support.
After traveling all over the world,
they earned a longer break to began doing the work on the sixth record "Tales
From The B-Sides". The
LP is full of the coolest b-side and remix shit. A few month ago, Rob
has left the band, he wants to settle down and get married. Fortunately
the band found a new lead guitarist, his name is Leo Curley. In the meantime
Biohazard signed a new record deal with SPV/Steamhammer for Europe and
Sanctuary for the rest of the world. During the bands' downtime, the
high visibility of being hard-core legends connected Evan with Tom Fontana
landing him a high profile starring role portraying the prison convict "Jaz
Hoyt" on HBO's critically
acclaimed and award winning hit series "OZ".
Billy used his music skills in a trip-hop “massive attackish” project called BLU. The band consists of two members: Billy and a vocalist Jeni Bair. 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.
In 2005, Biohazard embarked on what has become their final album, Means
to an End. With the success of their studio work, Billy and Danny opened
up the Underground
Sound Studios in NJ, in exchange
for lower overhead and more space, they left Rat Piss Studios behind.
After focusing on their earlier energy that the members found as definative
Biohazard, disaster struck the band. While mixing the album, a horrible
mishap caused the loss of the album (recorded in digital audio as most
recordings these days are). After regrouping, Graziadei and Schuler rekindled
their passion and rejoined the fight to finish this soon to be classic
Biohazard album: Means to an End.
Billy is currently 100% focused on his new band Suicide City, while at home he works in the successful Underground Sound Studios that he and Danny Schuler have been building up over the years! Danny Schuler is currently working on a project called Bloodclot with Biohazard guitar player Scott Roberts and former Cromag's singer, John Bloodclot.