The original four members of Biohazard announced recently they're back on good terms, and back to their hardcore roots, with a series of tour dates as well as talk of a new album—which would be the first new material that quartet has written together in more than a decade. Biohazard drummer Danny Schuler recently spoke with Drum Talk TV to talk about the band's reunion, and—needless to say—but it's a story that has been a long time coming for the band from Brooklyn, New York. Biohazard 's last album to date was the 2012 release, Reborn In Defiance.
"[Biohazard ] haven't toured in… almost eight years," Schuler said. "In about 2015, [that] was the last year of touring. We wrapped it up after that. We went in the studio to go do a record and things just kind of imploded; everybody's [got] a bunch of crazy personalities."
Schuler's putting things kindly. After that studio incident, Biohazard went into hibernation. "In the ensuing years, we didn't do anything as Biohazard," he continued. "And then about a year and a half ago, my brother, who lives in Torrance, California, was flying back home to New York to come see everybody. And he gets to the airport here, and he says to me, 'You won't believe who I saw at the airport.' And I said, 'Who was that?' And he goes, 'I saw Evan' [Seinfeld, bass], who I hadn't spoken to in 10 years… And he basically sent a message through my brother, 'Tell Danny I said hi.' So a week later…. I said to my wife, 'Maybe I should call him' — you know, just bury the hatchet. Who cares anymore? Like everybody, COVID and all these people dying and all this stuff, it's like, who the hell cares about all that old stuff that made you mad? So my wife was, like, 'Yeah, why don't you give him a call? Don't be an asshole. Call him.'
You can watch the full interview with Schuler just below.
What happened next, was Schuler took that first step towards Seinfeld, and as they say in show business, the rest was pretty much history. "I did call him and we spoke, and we just kind of buried the hatchet. And the other guys in the band, Bobby (Hambel, guitar) and Billy (Graziadei, guitar/vocals) had been speaking, and we've been speaking, and everybody just kind of started talking a little bit."
Biohazard realized what they had missed since turning the shop lights off, as Schuler spoke dearly of their departed friend and manager, Scott Koenig. "He passed away, and that was a real moment where it was, like, 'Wow.' Scott was with us from the beginning, and he was like a fifth member of the band. … [After that it] was kind of one of those things where it's just, like, who cares about all the negative bullshit in the past? Who cares? We're still here. We did great stuff together. We created something cool…. And that kind of was the beginning of how it started, getting the band together."
Schuler added, "We've been through so much together over all the years of the band — ups and downs. Like every band. We've been through so much together, we know how to deal with each other. And hopefully we've all grown up at this point. So I think we'll be okay."
They will need to be, as shows are coming up very soon for the newly reunited Biohazard. "Dates are coming. We've got a bunch of dates already, and more are coming every week. [A] tour is happening later in the year… we've got a bunch in August, festival stuff in Europe, and maybe some local stuff in the United States right before that. And then we're doing some festivals in the U.S. in September [and] October also… [we're] gonna be working a lot."
As for the aforementioned new album, Schuler seemed open to the idea, after giving it some thought. "Making new music wasn't really something I was really thinking about too much," he said, "but it's come up so much in the last few months since we've been talking about all this stuff. So we'll see how it goes. There's definitely interest there for us to do it. I just hope we can do it. I wanna be able to do it at the level we always did it at….
"I always loved getting in a room with these guys. We've always come up with great stuff when we're in the right mindset to do it. So I'm excited to get in a room with them and just let shit fly. I have the energy for it, I'm ready and I'm excited to do it, and I think they are too. So I'm hopeful that we're gonna make something really cool and different and innovative."
Biohazard started out in 1987 in Brooklyn, and were the tag-along band of Carnivore, then later Type O Negative, as well as Life of Agony—the loose unholy trinity of bands that defined the Brooklyn hardcore sound of the late 80s and into the mid 90s. Biohazard released their debut LP, Urban Discipline in 1992 on Roadrunner Records, and it went on to become success within the scene, even gaining the band some exposure on MTV. However, it was the pairing of the group with seminal early 90s rap outfit Onyx for the title track to the cult film Judgement Night that helped propel the low-budget film's soundtrack on to legendary status.
During the recording of Reborn in Defiance, Seinfeld suddenly quit the group, which came as a shock to the remaining three members. Billy Graziadei told The Aquarian in 2012 "We were finishing the record, and we had a few more things to do with [producer] Toby Wright in the studio, and we just got a call from Evan one day—he just up and quit. Said he wasn’t gonna do it anymore—couldn’t do it, didn’t want to do it. It caught us by surprise. But I’ve always respected the decision. It was his decision, and we made our decision, and that’s the way it is. I have no ill vibes towards him. I hope he finds what he looking for, and I hope he’s happy."
Biohazard, so far, have confirmed the following shows for 2023:
8/4 Czaplinek, Poland – Pol'and'Rock Festival
8/10 Jeromer, Czech Republic – Brutal Assault
8/13 Catton Park, England – Bloodstock
8/19 Eindhoven, Holland – Dynamo Metalfest
