You guys [Biohazard] toured extensively in the past couple of years, and now you guys are coming back with a new album. What’s the latest on Biohazard?

Our full time writing with our producer starts next week. I’m really psyched. The reunion tour was a great setup, but we really need to have some new material out there, so we can continue pillaging the moshpits of the earth.

How did the reunion start and do you feel by reuniting with your band mates is different from or similar to when you first formed Biohazard?

In terms of the reunion, it was a long time coming type of thing. We all needed to really reconnect and having Bobby [Hambel, guitars] back in the band is a big deal which really brings us back to the roots of the band. Bobby and I hadn’t spoken in ten years, some friends reconnected us, and there was a lot of unfinished business between us. We sat down at an Italian restaurant in NYC and we picked right back up with our friendship where it left off!

Me, Billy [Graziadei, guitars] and Danny [Schuler, drums] had never lost touch but the original dynamic is back and improved. It feels different in many ways, but when we are on stage performing, it all comes back to hardcore truth.

And how does the new material play?

The new material we are writing has a broad range. I’d like to say it sounds like a modern day Urban Discipline or State of the World Address. It is brutally heavy but melodic as well, something we had abandoned the last few records that were more straight up hardcore. The lyrics are thematic and reality based and very personal and introspective at the same time. We really think people will relate, but, the big singalongs, gang vocals, rapping, singing, greasy bass lines, relentless grooves, pounding drums,  crushing guitar riffs, screaming solos, and gritty socially fueled lyrics make it all Biohazard unmistakably!

You mentioned it earlier, but last week we saw saddening news that Peter Steele had gone from here to eternity. Peter, like you, was deeply connected to Brooklyn, and from what I gather, he also affected Biohazard quite a bit?

Pete, our brother… he was my single biggest musical influence. I want us to make him proud. He named Biohazard. I was a roadie for Carnivore and they were my favorite band in those days. Their music still stands the test of time and Type O Negative was simply sheer genius. Peter was a musical genius. While he is not here anymore, his spirit lives in all of us, and his music lives forever.

I listened to World Coming Down today and was absolutely gutted. Peter represents true Brooklyn characters, with a sense of responsibility, hard working, blue collar, family oriented, part of the neighborhood. He was a great friend to me and named Biohazard for us. Carnivore was so influential and ahead of their time. I can’t express how important Pete was to me. We used to hang out a lot in the late 80’s, early nineties… then, both our bands were always on tour and we would rarely see each other besides backstage at festivals in Europe, where the jokes would flow. He used to lend me his basses and amps to play because I didn’t have any decent equipment. He was like a big brother to me, we used to hang out a lot, play demolition derby in the streets, go to shows, jam in his basement, go to bars, you name it. I miss him immensely.