New York City hardcore reared its angry head in Buffalo last Sunday night when veteran metal band Biohazard headlined a tour that also featured their loud cohorts, Most Precious Blood, E.Town Concrete and Sworn Enemy.
But what would a hardcore band be without a frontman to assert their reputation? Biohazard bassist and lead singer Evan Seinfeld could easily be confused with a mafia boss. Maybe that's why he had a role as convict Jaz Hoyt on the hit HBO series "Oz" for the past five years. The Brooklyn bandleader expressed much pride in his stomping grounds.
"New York is where hardcore was born, it's a real hard place. In the last year or so, it's been through a lot," said Seinfeld.
Straightforward with his views and opinions, Seinfeld's priorities do not include making politically correct opinions for the sake of maintaining album sales. These include any of his conservative political views, which aren't particularly popular in the entertainment industry.
"I'll direct this right at the guys from System of a Down, Tom Morello from Rage Against the Machine (now Audioslave), as they stew their oh-so-controversial, half-cocked, uninformed, left-wing communist views and think they're in a position to be really clever. If you don't like it here, pack your s--- and leave ... I've been to 65 countries around the world, and there's no place I want to live except for America," he said.
It's a feeling that most of the bands that played Sunday reflected. Sworn Enemy, E.Town Concrete and Biohazard all mentioned the importance of supporting the troops in their performance, regardless of personal feelings about the war. The audience's response was positive.
To clarify differences for the unfamiliar, New York City hardcore - the featured musical genre of the evening - is more inspired by punk, as opposed to thrash/progressive metal. Keeping with the punk theme, the lyrics of New York City hardcore are simpler. The genre also tends to be resilient to mainstream trends.
Each band played a tremendous set, although the crowd showed their lack of familiarity with the first three bands. Sworn Enemy's latest release, "As Real As It Gets," came out only last week, and E.Town Concrete's new album, "The Renaissance," comes out in the middle of April.
Sworn Enemy sounded much like Hatebreed. Incidentally, Jamie Jasta, the current singer of the Hatebreed, originally founded Sworn Enemy. The only distinct difference were the vocals, namely Sal LoCoco's high-pitched screams from the back of his skull. Judging by Sunday's performance, Jasta's original investment in this group is about to pay off.
E.Town Concrete was mostly forgettable. Their obvious and sometimes clumsy blend of high quality rap and hardcore did not serve them well. They are a talented hardcore group, with a vocalist who has a knack for rhyming, but it's apparent they are trying too hard to fight their way into the mainstream.
Most Precious Blood was a little out of place, since they don't fit the mold of New York City hardcore. They are from Brooklyn, but their sound is not. As a result, the band received a bit of a hard time from the crowd. Unfortunately, that criticism overshadowed a great performance of the most original material heard all evening.
During and following parts of Most Precious Blood's set, members of the crowd began to shout out "Biohazard!" It oddly provoked the memory of Jim Breuer's comment during his visit to UB about his experience while waiting for Metallica to take the stage: "A bunch of angry 15-year olds shouting 'Metallica!' can be scary."
Biohazard's sound was unparalleled - over the years, their sound has clearly improved through live performances. The thud of the bass was almost enough to force the audience to bounce to every song. Perhaps what served the band the best was having Seinfeld and guitarist Bill Graziadei share vocal responsibilities. It was great to hear the shift from Seinfeld's guttural shouts to Graziadei's baritone screams.
The group played a chunk of songs from their newest LP, "Kill or Be Killed," including the title track, "Never Forgive, Never Forget" and "Beaten Senseless." Their anthem-like fan-favorite, "DFL," which stands for "Down For Life," was one of the highlights, along with the last three songs that featured all members of Sworn Enemy minus the drummer.
Even if it wasn't while co-headlining tours with Pantera in their heyday, Sunday's concert indicated that Biohazard's 16 years together as a band has given them time to find their niche.
