“A man is king when he knows how to rule his own life” declares Billy Graziadei, the legendary Biohazard guitarist on Deception, one of the (many) stand out tracks on his second solo outing Leaders And Liars. That quote perfectly sums up BillyBio’s outlook on life it would seem. With the legendary NYHC band on hiatus, Billy kept the flag flying with an outstanding debut solo album Feed The Fire in 2018 and now 4 years on he has followed up with another blast of BillyBio.

Badass riffs are Billy’s forte, that much we know. But quite how he keeps on discovering powerful and instantly moshable riffs is a mystery. Black Out the album’s opener is a perfect representation of Billy’s musical inspiration, dipping into Metal, Hardcore and even Nu-Metal in equal doses, while the well timed dropping out of the drums give the verses that vital hip-hop ingredient and you can shout along to it too. The political outburst of Fallen Empires continues this trend and can consider itself perhaps the most Biohazard-esque track on the album, although to give Billy his credit, the outstanding guitar work that was usually left to Bobby Hambel in Biohazard, is all Billy here, showing his very own guitar god credentials.

Sing-alongs are the order of the day on the album’s title track, a raging chunk of old school street punk, which is sure to be a hit live. The pace only really lets up with the laid-back samples, acoustic guitars and electronic hip hop beats taking precedence on tracks like Remission, Just In The Sun and Sheepdog, which again show the variation in Graziadei’s influences. NYHC alumni, Toby Morse from H20 is roped in for some vocal work on One Life To Live, while Billy’s own love letter to NYHC is laid bare in the rousing yet impassioned Our Scene. Rounding off the album in style is the mid-tempo, head nodding, stomper of Cyanide, with Billy coming dangerously close to creating the perfect rock song.

Biohazard always wore their heart on their sleeves and the beating heart of that band was BillyBio who has once again produced an album that represents his roots, acknowledges his past whilst also pushing forward. Make no bones about it, Leaders and Liars is an absolute classic….Chris Andrews

https://www.afm-records.de