When Biohazard vocalist-guitarist Billy Graziadei says his band loves being the underdog, it sounds like classic spin doctoring, but it's true nonetheless. Since their formation eleven years ago, Biohazard have fought a relentless uphill battle against popular trends, record labels and themselves, but as Graziadei tells it, that's all part of the master plan.

"It gives you more power," he says. "The greatest fighters of all time have always done better on the way up. Once they get there, you know, it's all downhill." Luckily, the Brooklyn quartet has been able to find a happy medium, never quite selling loads of records, but gaining a strong following of hardcore fans along the way. As vocalist-bassist Evan Seinfeld spins it, "Would you rather have a million fans for a year, or would you rather have 100,000 for ten years?"

And therein lies the secret to Biohazard's success. As one of the pioneering groups of rap-metal fusion, Graziadei, Seinfeld, drummer Danny Schuler and guitarist Rob Echeverria don't write music for the masses, they write what they know works for them. Their latest release, New World Disorder, released last week, follows suit, proving to be one of the band's most diverse and dynamic albums to date. Themes on Disorder range from anti-conformity ("Resist") to domestic violence ("Cycle of Abuse") to the apocalypse on title track. "The record is really topical," says Seinfeld. "It delves deeply into a lot of different topics. It goes from pure rage and anger to almost stoic sorrow and despair, from joy and happiness to fear and paranoia. It covers all the human emotions that we feel everyday, and people relate to it so much."

Biohazard surely can relate. Just before the release of 1996's Mata Leao, original guitarist Bobby Hambel left the group with both sides citing the usual musical differences. Shortly after the album's release, the band left Warner Bros., released a live album, No Holds Barred, on Roadrunner Records, and eventually signed with Mercury. During this work-related tumult, various members of the band went through divorces and the suffered through the deaths of close friends and family members. "New World Disorder definitely has a part of all of us," says Graziadei. "We spent a long time on this album, you know, it wasn't something that we just slapped together. We put a lot of heart and soul and tears into the album."

Biohazard are currently warming up on a short U.S. club tour before heading out on the road with Insane Clown Posse, Coal Chamber and Twiztid for a full-scale North American tour beginning in July. In addition, Seinfeld is also spending some of his free time behind bars: Seinfeld has secured a recurring role as inmate Jaz Hoyt on the critically acclaimed HBO prison drama Oz. Seinfeld joins rappers LL Cool J and Naughty By Nature's Treach as musicians who have appeared on the show. According to the bassist, the hardest part about filming is the early morning call times, but acting wasn't as difficult as he thought it would be.

"When I have a scene with a series of lines, or when I get an action part, I find it totally challenging," he says. "I love testing myself and exploring new things, but ultimately what gets me off is being in Biohazard."

JOE HAULER
(June 17, 1999)