ALBUM REVIEW: Leaders And Liars – BillyBio
Billy Graziadei aka BILLYBIO returns with his new album Leaders And Liars. The follow-up to his debut Feed The Fire, it’s an even more incendiary collection of songs that takes in a multitude of Graziadei‘s musical influences from hardcore and punk to more classic metal elements with a few surprises thrown in there too in the form of electronic and alternative rock flourishes.
Obviously, BIOHAZARD are the band that BILLYBIO is most known for, but he has a musical CV that includes the likes of SUICIDE CITY, POWERFLO and now this project. Leaders And Liars is a testament to his passion for music as it is a collection of vibrant songs all brimming with a furious energy that you cannot fake, and even the songs that aren’t sonically what you would traditionally call heavy have an ambience and power about them that elevates this record to the hilt.
Graziadei’s impassioned vocals immortalised on BIOHAZARD songs like Love Denied are on Leaders And Liars in spades (check out the opening blast of Black Out for proof) and his instantly recognisable guitar style is as well, especially on a song like Fallen Empires. It sounds like he is having so much fun on this record. With members of bands from SUICIDAL TENDENCIES and THE EXPLOITED to POWERFLO and DEATH BY STEREO playing on the record, they all ably assist Graziadei in providing a storming collection of tracks that slot in well into his considerable musical back catalogue.
Songs like Lost Horizon, One Life To Live (featuring Toby Morse from H2O), Enough and Our Scene are all straight up punk and hardcore anthems that brim with that classic NYHC energy, but this album is packed full of those different influences and BILLYBIO utilises these to stunning effect. The brooding electronica of Sheepdog is a great example of that, as is the sublime Just In The Sun and Remission that feature the sublime vocals of Jennifer Bair. When you add in the anthemic metal of Deception and Generation Kill, you’ve got an album that is as diverse as it is heavy and vibrant, and it sounds all the better for it.
Leaders And Liars is a great album and shows exactly why Billy Graziadei is such a respected part of heavy music and has been since BIOHAZARD first kicked their way out of the New York underground and onto a global stage. The fact that he has made such a diverse but coherent album this far into his career, and an album that sounds just as he wanted it to sound is a thing that should be respected indeed.
Fans of every part of BILLYBIO‘s musical heritage will find something to love with Leaders And Liars; there is so much going on here it is inspiring to listen to, and the fact that none of it sounds out of place at all just makes it all the more special.
Rating: 8/10
Leaders And Liars is set for release on March 25th via AFM Records.
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