Everything about Biohazard Band totally explained
Biohazard was a band originally based out of
Brooklyn,
New York. They are acknowledged as one of the earliest bands to fuse
hardcore punk and
heavy metal with elements of
hip hop music.
Band history
Early years
The band formed in 1987 in
Brooklyn. The original lineup consisted of bassist/vocalist
Evan Seinfeld, guitarist Bobby Hambel, and drummer Anthony Meo. Guitarist/vocalist Billy Graziadei joined the band soon after. Their first demo tape, released in 1988, caused a stir with journalists who felt that the band's lyrics displayed certain
fascist and
white supremacist views, despite the fact that Seinfeld himself was Jewish. Accusations of racism in their music were strenuously denied by the band, but in later interviews, Seinfeld and Graziadei explained that it had all been a publicity stunt to win over the band
Carnivore and their fans. Eventually, the songs in question were no longer played or even mentioned, and the band began preaching message of tolerance and anti-racism. After the release of their demo, Anthony Meo left the band and drummer Danny Schuler stepped in to replace him. A second demo tape followed in 1989.
While never really considering themselves a
hardcore band, Biohazard often found themselves sharing stages with bands associated with the
New York hardcore scene, such as the
Cro-Mags and
Agnostic Front. They also shared stages with
New Jersey hardcore band
Mucky Pup quite often and a friendship between the two bands developed. Mucky Pup became a strong supporter of Biohazard and often booked them as an opening act, but many of the clubs would refuse to let Biohazard play, thinking the shows would lead to violence. As a result, Mucky Pup would resort to sneaking them on stage to perform a few songs before their own set.
Maze Records
In 1990, Biohazard signed a recording contract with Maze Records. The band's
self-titled debut album was poorly promoted by the label and sold over 40,000 copies. Subject-matter of the album was Brooklyn, gang-wars, drugs, and violence. The band went on their first European tour and, when they returned, realized that the problems they sang about on their first record were not limited to their Brooklyn hometown.
One year after the release of their debut album, Seinfeld and Graziadei contributed vocals to the song "Three Dead Gophers" from
Mucky Pup's third album,
Now. The album was released on
Roadrunner Records, who would soon release Biohazard's second album.
Roadrunner Records
In 1992, Biohazard signed with
Roadrunner Records and released
Urban Discipline, which gave the band national and worldwide attention in both the heavy metal and hardcore communities. The video for the song "Punishment" became the most played video in the history of
MTV's
Headbanger's Ball, and the album sold over 1,000,000 copies. The band also began opening for larger acts such as
House of Pain,
Sick Of It All,
Fishbone, and
Kyuss.
In the meantime, several former members of
Mucky Pup had formed the band
Dog Eat Dog. Biohazard had continued their friendship with these members and began to share the stage with Dog Eat Dog. While touring Europe, Graziadei gave a
Dog Eat Dog demo tape to a Roadracer Records representative. At the time, Roadracer was the European sister label to Roadrunner Records. The tape was sent back to the New York office of Roadrunner Records who then sent representatives to several Dog Eat Dog shows. As a result, Dog Eat Dog signed their first record deal with the label.
In 1993, the
hardcore rap group
Onyx recorded an alternate "Bionyx" version of their hit single "Slam" with Biohazard as their backup band. This led to a collaboration for the title track of the
Judgment Night soundtrack. The soundtrack would go on to sell over 2,000,000 copies in the United States.
Warner Bros.
Months later, the band left
Roadrunner Records in order to sign with
Warner Brothers Records Inc. and released their third studio LP,
State of the World Address. The album was produced by Ed Stasium in Los Angeles and contained the single "How It Is" featuring Sen-Dog from
Cypress Hill, for which a video was also shot. During their 1994 tour, the band made an appearance on the second stage at the
Monsters of Rock festival held at
Castle Donington.
State of the World Address went on to sell over 1,000,000 copies, and
Rolling Stone magazine selected the Biohazard logo as the best logo of the year. This was the last Biohazard album with Bobby Hambel, who left due to differences with the rest of the band. Hambel spent time in White Devil, also featuring members of the
Cro-Mags, before seemingly leaving the music business entirely.
The band recorded their fourth studio album,
Mata Leao, as a three piece in 1996. It was produced with the help of Dave Jerden. For the 1996 Mata Leao Tour, the band hired former
Helmet guitarist Rob Echeverria. Also in 1996, Biohazard played on the
Ozzfest mainstage alongside
Ozzy Osbourne,
Slayer,
Danzig,
Fear Factory, and
Sepultura.
While touring Europe in support of the Mata Leao album, the band recorded their Hamburg, Germany, show for their first live album,
No Holds Barred (Live in Europe), which was released in 1997 through their former label,
Roadrunner Records.
In 1998,
Seinfeld began an acting career playing
Jaz Hoyt on
HBO's award winning series
Oz. The character was introduced in the second season and appeared throughout the series' sixth and final season.
Mercury Records
The band signed to
Mercury Records and released their fifth studio album,
New World Disorder, in 1999, once again with Ed Stasium as a producer. The relationship with Mercury Records soured quickly; the band felt betrayed and misunderstood by their label and as a result severed their ties with the label amidst the merger of
Mercury Records,
Island Records,
Def Jam Records, and
Polygram into the
Universal Music Group.
Independent again
In 2000, the band continued to tour Europe and Japan, without the support of a record label or management. In 2001, the band released a compilation album titled
Tales From The B-Side. The album consisted of various B-sides and remixes from various eras in the band's recording history. The album was released by the Phantom Sound & Vision label. After the release of
Tales From The B-Side, Rob Echeverria resigned from the band in order to get married. Leo Curley, of Outline and All Means Necessary, was hired as his replacement.
SPV/Sanctuary Records
In the same year, Biohazard signed two new record deals with SPV/Steamhammer in Europe and
Sanctuary Records for the remainder of the world. Despite the new record deals, the band took some personal time in order to work on other projects.
Graziadei briefly formed a
trip hop project with Jenifer Bair of the
Ohio band Hilo. After writing and recording approximately 20 songs for the project, named Blu, Bair relocated to
Los Angeles, California to continue an art career and the project dissolved. Graziadei also began work on a book,
Tales From The Hardside. Schuler used his downtime to join New York band Among Thieves as a replacement drummer for the departing Will Shepler.
Graziadei and Schuler also collaborated in transforming the band's rehearsal
Brooklyn studio into a digital recording studio, known as Rat Piss Studios. Re-investing into the band, Graziadei and Schuler honed their engineering and productions skills while recording and producing local acts and new Biohazard demos. The band then undertook the process of writing, recording, and producing their own music.
Their studio work led to the band's first sixth studio album,
Uncivilization, released in September of 2001. The album features many guest appearances by members of bands such as
Agnostic Front,
Hatebreed,
Pantera,
Slipknot,
Sepultura,
Cypress Hill, Skarhead, and
Type O Negative. Shortly after the release of
Uncivilization, Leo Curley left the band to focus on writing his own music. He was replaced by former Nucleus member Carmine Vincent, who had previously toured with Biohazard as part of their road crew.
In 2002, Seinfeld became engaged to
porn star Tera Patrick, who had never heard of Seinfeld until she saw one of his nude scenes on
Oz. After making several phone calls, Patrick was able to contact Seinfeld, who had never heard of her either, and the two began dating.
Unfortunately, the band had to cancel scheduled European festival dates when Carmine Vincent underwent major surgery. The band did manage to find a temporary guitarist, Scott Roberts of the
Cro-Mags, in time to join the Eastpak Resistance Tour with
Agnostic Front,
Hatebreed, Discipline,
Death Threat, and Born From Pain. Also participating in the tour was All Boro Kings, a band consisting of old friends from both
Mucky Pup and
Dog Eat Dog.
Biohazard completed their seventh studio album in seventeen days;
Kill Or Be Killed was released in 2003. Originally titled
Never Forget, Never Forgive, the band made a last-minute decision to change the name and artwork of the album. While touring North America with
Kittie,
Brand New Sin and
Eighteen Visions, Biohazard announced that Roberts would remain as their permanent guitarist. The tour was curtailed when it was announced that
Seinfeld had fallen ill.
With more downtime due to Seinfeld's illness, Graziadei and Schuler collaborated to mix
Life of Agony's live comeback album,
River Runs Again: Live 2003. Once Seinfeld was healthy again, the band toured
Japan and North America, headlining over bands such as
Hatebreed,
Agnostic Front,
Throwdown, and
Full Blown Chaos.
Once home, Seinfeld began recording and circulating demos for his own
trip hop project named Triplesicks. For a brief time, Graziadei and his wife moved to
Brazil where their daughter was born. While there, Graziadei struck up a friendship with drummer Fernandao Schafer. After jamming together in the studio, Schafer formed the band Ink which Graziadei would eventually join. It wasn't long before Ink was renamed Endrah and an EP titled
DEMONstration was released. Once Graziadei returned to
New York, the logistical problems of traveling back and forth caused Graziadei to quit Endrah.
In early 2004, Graziadei, Schuler, and Roberts teamed up with
gabber DJ Rob Gee,
DJ Starscream (aka
Sid Wilson of
Slipknot), Jeff Anthony, and Keith Rooney, both of Gutwrench, to form
Ampt
. The band combined
gabber music with
hardcore and
heavy metal. After writing several songs and putting together a live band, Graziadei and Schuler left the project in order to continue with Biohazard. Ampt has gone through several additional lineup changes since.
Also in 2004, Seinfeld, now residing in
Los Angeles, California, married his fiance of two years,
Tera Patrick. Using the alias Spyder Jones, Seinfeld has since starred with Patrick in several adult movies, including
Desperate and
Reign of Tera, which he also directed.
By the end of 2004, the band had begun recording its eighth studio album,
Means To An End. Unfortunately, the completed album was lost in a studio disaster, forcing the band to completely re-record the album, which was finally released in August of 2005.
The end of Biohazard
In the meantime, Graziadei had formed another new band with former members of
Kittie and The Groovenics. Originally named Rodek, the band eventually changed their name to Suicide City. In October of 2005, Graziadei announced that
Means To An End had been the final Biohazard album and that he'd continue playing with Suicide City as his main focus. One month later, on the Biohazard website, it was announced that there would in fact be a 2006 Biohazard tour.
On December 15th, Seinfeld and Graziadei participated with the
Roadrunner United conglomerate at the Nokia Theater in
New York for an all-star event. The show opened with Biohazard's "Punishment," performed by Seinfeld, Graziadei,
Sepultura's
Andreas Kisser, former
Fear Factory member
Dino Cazares, and
Slipknot's
Joey Jordison.
In January of 2006, Danny Schuler announced his resignation from Biohazard and the formation of Bloodclot with singer Jon Joseph of the
Cro-Mags and guitarist Scott Roberts and bassist Craig Setari of
Sick of it All. As a result of Schuler's resignation, Roberts announced that he'd also be leaving the band to focus on Bloodclot with Schuler. That same month, Graziadei announced that Biohazard wouldn't go on a farewell tour after all
(External Link). A Biohazard DVD was released soon after.
Graziadei and Schuler have since relocated their recording studio to
South Amboy, New Jersey and have renamed it Underground Sound Studios. The studio has undergone renovations in order to include a live room with 20 foot ceilings and 4,000 square feet of studio space.
In February of 2006, Seinfeld participated in the filming of
SuperGroup, a
VH-1 reality television series also starring
Ted Nugent,
Scott Ian of
Anthrax,
Sebastian Bach and
Jason Bonham of Bonham, UFO, and
Foreigner as a band named Damnocracy. The show debuted on May 21, 2006. Seinfeld continues to work with his wife,
Tera Patrick, in adult entertainment. In 2005, they launched the Tera Patrick Agency with the goal of representing talent in both the adult and mainstream entertainment business.
In March of 2007, Evan Seinfeld debuted his new band, The Spyderz, as an opening act for a
Buckcherry performance. The band was originally named White Line Fever, until it was discovered that a UK band already owned the name. The Spyderz also features guitarist
John Monte, formerly of
Ministry and
M.O.D..
Reunion
In January of 2008, the lineup of Evan Seinfeld, Billy Graziadei, Danny Schuler and Bobby Hambel made the announcement that rehearsals had begun for a 2008 summer tour to commemorate the band's 20th anniversary. They will do a tour of Australia, and New Zealand in April with
Chimaira,
Throwdown,
Bloodsimple and headliners
Korn.
Discography
- Demo (1988)
- Demo (1989)
- Biohazard (1990)
- Urban Discipline (1992)
- State of the World Address (1994)
- Mata Leao (1996)
- No Holds Barred (Live in Europe) (1997)
- New World Disorder (1999)
- Tales From The B-Side (2001)
- Uncivilization (2001)
- Kill Or Be Killed (2003)
- Means To An End (2005)
Further Information
Get more info on 'Biohazard Band'.
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