BIOHAZARD: Final 'Reborn In Defiance' Cover Artwork Unveiled

The final cover artwork for "Reborn In Defiance", the much-anticipated new album from New York hardcore metal legends BIOHAZARD, can be seen below. Due on January 20, 2012, the CD will be made available via Nuclear Blast outside of North America, with a U.S. label partner soon to be announced. The band will celebrate the launch with a record-release party on January 17 at the Gramercy Theater in New York City before setting off on an extensive international tour.

Commented BIOHAZARD drummer Danny Schuler: "Being a huge fan of vinyl records and the amazing sleeve artwork that used to come with them, I really wanted our artwork to be unique.

"In the spirit of being 'Reborn In Defiance', the album cover represents to me an interesting paradox: an embryo, not yet spoiled by the world, but already possessing the heart of a rebel."

Added guitarist/vocalist Billy Graziadei: "The innocence of youth has always been a strong subject for us, with the children playing over a crime scene on the 'Urban Discipline' album cover to the child running with a biological gas mask on the 'State Of The World Address' cover. For 'Reborn In Defiance', an unborn child waits to be thrown into a world that will steal the untainted purity of infancy we all start out with."

Danny summed up the cover art's significance quite simply: "It all begins in the womb."

Not only is "Reborn In Defiance" BIOHAZARD's first original lineup album in 18 years, but it also marks the last album recorded by the band before the departure of bassist and co-vocalist Evan Seinfeld. The effort remains a testament to the four founding members (Billy Graziadei, Bobby Hambel, Evan Seinfeld and Danny Schuler) and their unique chemistry.

"BIOHAZARD has always been a mixture of our personalities, passion, chaos and angst that makes us who we are," said Graziadei. "It's this energy that comes out of us when we're together that is BIOHAZARD."

Having last recorded and toured as the fundamental lineup with the release of "State Of The World Address" back in 1994, BIOHAZARD reformed with all four original members back in 2008 to commemorate the band's 20th anniversary. They went back out on the road together over the next two years, during which time inspiration struck.

"When we first got back together, we knew it would take us a while to figure out how to be a band again," Schuler explained. "We toured the world over the next 18 months and were genuinely surprised when audiences everywhere reacted as positively as they did. So we started jamming, and we knew there was something there for us to build on. We wanted to take the live energy we were creating and capture it in the studio."

The legendary Toby Wright (ALICE IN CHAINS, METALLICA, SEVENDUST, KORN) was brought in to produce the 13-track "Reborn In Defiance", which was recorded in Los Angeles.

"Not only does Toby Wright have excellent music knowledge and engineering skills, but he knew exactly how to work with us on a personal level. He made us keep our attention on the music, and that focus was exactly what BIOHAZARD needed," explained Hambel. "Toby pushed each of us to bring out the best we have to offer, and we went beyond our comfort zone without ever losing sight of the general vision we all had for this record."

Added Schuler, "It was made in the same tradition of every album we've ever made together, a bunch of guys in a room, looking to move the world with our words and music. We're very proud of what we've done on this record; it ties together everything about what made us unique in the past, with a new attitude and excitement towards the future."

Graziadei stated, "There are three elements of creating an album: the album you want to make, the album you make and the album you wish you made. 'Reborn In Defiance' is the first album for us that has hit all three, and we're psyched to finally bring it to the masses."

Two songs from the CD "Come Alive" and "Vengeance Is Mine" are available for streaming on the band's Facebook page ("like" required).

BIOHAZARD has sold over five million albums worldwide since its formation in the late Eighties in Brooklyn, New York. They achieved international success with their albums "Urban Discipline" on Roadrunner Records in 1992 and 1994's "State of the World Address" on Warner Brothers. Over the years, BIOHAZARD has collaborated with ONYX, CYPRESS HILL, AGNOSTIC FRONT, HATEBREED, PANTERA, and TYPE O NEGATIVE, among others. The band has continued to tour nationally and internationally, sharing stages with HOUSE OF PAIN, OZZY OSBOURNE, SLAYER, DANZIG, FEAR FACTORY, SEPULTURA and AGNOSTIC FRONT.