BillyBio
Feed The Fire
---originally published on Lambgoat---
From the opening moments of Feed The Fire, it’s clear Billy Graziedei, founding member of crossover
legends Biohazard, certainly hasn’t lost his edge. Under the moniker BillyBio, Graziedei’s first
solo album calls upon the vocalist/guitarists New York Hardcore roots while never
sounding rehashed or dated. Instead, he
complements the late 80’s hardcore grind with his thirty years of experience
playing in bands like the aforementioned Biohazard and rap rock supergroup
Powerflo.
There is nothing mind-blowing here, but Feed The Fire is loaded with enough gang vocal sing-alongs and
blistering hardcore riffs to satisfy any Sick Of It All fan. Take opener “Freedom’s Never Free” for
example. The track is immediately thrust
into a fury of upbeat drumming and driving guitars, led by Graziedei’s
unmistakable high pitch yells. The band
slows down only long enough to showcase an anthemic half speed bridge section
before churning out its aggressive finish.
For the most part, that’s how most of Feed The Fire rolls along. “Stfu”
and “Enemy” are energetic hardcore songs utilizing as much group vocals as not
while “Rise And Slay” showcases the best riff Strife never wrote before
dropping into the most blatant breakdown on the album. Tracks like “Sodality” and “Sick And Tired”
mix Biohazard-esque grooves into the hardcore fury, the former even features
some wailing guitar solos.
But it’s a newer element of to Graziedei’s sound that add
the extra dimension to Feed The Fire. The title track soars on a melodic chorus,
not exactly sung, but not exactly yelled either. Even the refrain to “Generation Z”, the song
most vying for some type of air-play, is annoyingly catchy at first, but the
hook will grow on you. It’s borderline
juvenile lyrics (“A new generation that is kicking ass / Fuck the world and the
upper-class”) get trapped in your head and by the third or fourth listen you
can’t help but join in. Anchored by a
simple guitar lead and mid-paced rhythm, the track is definitely one of the
most memorable of the batch.
Aside from a misstep into the realm of rap rock (“Untruth”)
and a couple segue tracks, BillyBio never strays too far outside of Graziedei’s
comfort zone. And that’s great. The chaotic pace and heavy onslaught is
everything that you could have possibly hoped for in his solo debut.
Bottomline: If you like Madball, Agnostic Front and/or
Biohazard, Feed The Fire is for
you. BillyBio’s first solo outing is as
impressive as it is fun. There’s enough
finger pointing sing-alongs and riffs to mosh to to last us until Graziedei’s
next one.
BillyBio - Feed The Fire - Feed The Fire
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