Biohazard at Webster Hall's Marlin Room

Billy Graziadei

Guitarist Bobby Hambel was among the founders of Biohazard in 1987 out of Brooklyn, New York. Early on, vocalist/guitarist Billy Graziadei joined and turned the trio into a quartet and Biohazard released its first demo in 1988. Danny Schuler replaced the original drummer after that demo. Many personnel changes later, Scott Roberts played lead guitar in Biohazard from 2002 to 2005, and rejoined the band in 2011 as bassist. Biohazard's ninth and most recent album, 1992's Reborn in Defiance, was released worldwide with the exception of North America.

Biohazard was one of the earliest bands to fuse hardcore punk and heavy metal with elements of hip hop and controversial social and political commentary. After more than 25 years of heavy-bottomed punk metal, Biohazard maintained its legacy with a pit-bull bite tonight at a long-awaited hometown gig in Webster Hall's Marlin Room. Utilizing the entire width of the large stage, the three front men ran, jumped and bounced as they opened with "Shades of Grey" from the 1992 Urban Discipline album. This was followed by more high-energy manifestos in "What Makes Us Tick" from the 1994 State of the World Address album, then the title track from Urban Discipline. Biohazard performed its 17 angriest songs, and all but one were from the band's first three albums, covering 1990 to 1994. The sole exception was featured smack in the middle of the set, "Vengeance Is Mine," from the most recent Reborn in Defiance album. The explosive eruption of Biohazard's scorching music remained clean and clear throughout the blistering set. On many songs, Graziadei sang, shouted and spit the lyrics originally sung by former band leader Evan Seinfeld at no sacrifice to the integrity of their foundation. But there was the rub as far as the future progress and trajectory of Biohazard. There seemed to be enough fire to keep the band going -- the prognosis was good for life after Seinfeld. Tonight's show indicated that the band could be massive if it resumed its former write-record-tour ethic.