Best known as the vocalist and rhythm guitarist of Biohazard, Billy Graziadei is a true legend of the New York hardcore scene. With Graziadei’s signature vocals and genre-defying style that incorporated the best of hardcore, punk, thrash, metal, and groove, Biohazard blazed their own musical path bringing together the metal community in moshpits around the world with an aggressive style that could only come from the streets of New York City. Biohazard hasn’t released an album since 2012’s ‘Reborn In Defiance,’ but that hasn’t stopped Graziadei. He’s been involved in a variety of bands since then including Powerflo and his latest solo venture Billy Bio.
‘Leaders And Liars’ is the second album from Billy Bio and was written during the COVID pandemic. It’s a raging ride through 15 songs of hardcore madness done as only Billy can. Unlike writing for Biohazard which requires more of a band effort, for this album Graziadei writes for himself with no one else to answer to. In his own words, he states ” “I always looked at it as ‘I don’t care if anyone else likes it.’ I like it and that’s all that matters. I’m being true to myself and that’s what’s most important to me. I’ve created something that is an honest and true representation of who I am as an artist.” The result is a record that is musically unique with lyrics that touch on themes ranging from personal to political. It’s raw, unsettling, and brutally honest.
Just like his 2018 debut album, this record was recorded and self-produced at Graziadei’s own Firewater Studios and backed by Powerflo drummer Fred Aching Rios, Suicidal Tendencies’ bassist Ra Diaz., Death By Stereo and Zebrahead guitarst Dan Palmer, and The Exploded guitarist Robbie Davidson. ‘Leaders And Liars’ draws on Graziadei’s punk and hardcore background but also has a distinctive metal vibe to many of the tracks. It’s just as much Agnostic Front and Cro-Mags as it is Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden with a few twists and surprises thrown in along the way.
Kicking things off in high gear is the heavy thrash feel of ‘Black Out.’ When Graziadei screams “you push me over the edge,” you know things are about to get pretty badass. Blistering guitars lead off into the politically charged ‘Fallen Empires’ which has a real nu-metal feel, very reminiscent of early KORN. The title track is explosive punk while ‘Turn The Wounds’ has an introspective feel. A short spoken-word interlude ‘Sheepdog’ warns us not to believe everything we read in the media and not to be a “sheep.”
If you’re looking for loud and intense, check out ‘Generation Kill,’ vigorous and violent in the best way. This is a put your boots on and get stomping in the pit type of song. ‘Looking Up’ starts off with the lyrics “Life Sucks” in a twist of irony while ‘One Life To Live’ gives off some very positive energy urging listeners to “shoot for the stars.” Then we have a bit of a nostalgic track as ‘Our Scene’ harkens back to our younger days and all the people that made the scene what it was. The album closes with another interlude ‘Remission’ that leads into the industrial feel of ‘Cyanide’ which feles a bit like a love gone wrong song.
‘Leaders And Liars’ is another outstanding release from one of the legends of hardcore with enough of a mix to appeal to a wide array of metal and punk fans alike.