Biohazard, Rock City Nottingham, 25/02/2025

Blending sounds and styles from genres like hardcore punk, thrash metal, and hip hip for almost 40 years, Biohazard's latest UK tour saw them co-headline with Life of Agony to deliver their unmistakable sound to towns and cities across the country, with support from the amazing LYLVC. Here's Nic's review of the Nottingham show!

LYLVC

Show openers LYLVC have the unenviable task of kicking things off with a set that begins

not long after doors. The North Carolina outfit are very game however, with buckets of

attitude and noise, notably from vocalist Oscar Romero who is all up in the camera’s lenses

with voice raised and tongue, though co-vocalist Alyse Zavala & keys man Cameron Gillette have equally captivating presences on stage.

The majority of the set is based off of recent EP Perfect Drug, with key tracks ‘Crawl Space’, the title track & ‘Into Nothing’ drawing the most eyes. The crowd that has turned out thus far are appreciative of the effort and this is a strong opener than won’t often be seen in the UK with how stacked America’s roster of hard rock bands is.

Life of Agony

Life of Agony have had a few stints in the UK in recent years with a not-meant-to-be set at

Bloodstock 2022 as well as a tour with Madball in 2023, though this is the first time

personally catching their set. The set leaned heavily on the River Runs Red album, to much

delight from longtime fans. There was some concern about ticket sales around time of doors and into the opening set, but there is 0 evidence of that worry while Life of Agony are raging on stage as Rock City’s floor gets packed out. Bassist Alan Roberts is strutting back and forth with some cracking facials as well as Joey Zampella’s commands between red hot stints on guitar keep the crowd engaged and busy in the middle during ‘Method of Groove’ and ‘My Eyes’ which lit a fuse on the venue and a cover of Cro-Mags ‘We Gotta Know’ was what set it off.

The chemistry of the band is undeniable as they roll into the final two tracks from River Runs Red which were ‘Through and Through’ and ‘Underground’. The latter is met with a

particularly rapturous response from Rock City. To really cap off the set, a small medley that

puts the crowd through quick paces of ‘Walk’ by Pantera & ‘Roots’ by Sepultura avoids the usual deflation of a set finishing, and maybe riles a few up a bit more for the impending

Biohazard set.

Biohazard

Biohazard wasted no time in capitalising on the angst and vigor that LOA left behind. After a foreboding intro and as the first notes of ‘Shades of Grey’ rang out, the atmosphere shifted, ready to blow. The Brooklyn hardcore pioneers hit the stage with the kind of energy that has defined their live shows for decades. Billy Graziadei and Bobby Hambel worked the crowd effortlessly, carrying on into ‘Wrong Side of the Tracks’ and ‘Urban Discipline’ sparking chaos in the pit as well as on the barrier as Billy climbs down off the stage and strides up and down the photo pit. The whole bands presence as a live unit was like very few others, their set feeling less like a performance and more like a call to arms, or as they would call it, a party. ‘What Makes Us Tick,’ ‘Five Blocks to the Subway’ and ‘Tales from the Hard Side’ all followed taken from State of the World Address, each landing with some serious hammer on Rock City’s dance floor.

The intensity only grew as ‘Tales From the Hard Side,’ from the State album, pushed the crowd further. The set as a whole felt like a sort of goading, give and take, for the band to get more and more out of Nottingham. The aggression was not helped by returning to the Urban Discipline album, with ‘Black and White and Red All Over’ and ‘Victory’ from their Self Titled record hitting with full force. ‘Love Denied,’ brought a different kind of intensity, its emotive delivery cutting through the relentless pace where the band waxes about how people who saw them in the early years of the band are likely parents now, and bringing their kids to the show as well. ‘How It Is’ offered a groove-driven moment that helped pick this back up as Billy climbs into the crowd and shows people just how to do a circle pit, as well as a supremely well received cover of Bad Religion’s ‘We’re Only Gonna Die’.

‘Punishment,’ the defining anthem from Urban Discipline, truly capped the night off for some fans, as the floor was like a sea to be swept up in for the entirety of the track. Even with the sheer brutality of their set, Biohazard never lost sight of their connection with the crowd, feeding off the energy and giving it right back for their final offering of ‘Hold My Own,’ taken from Biohazard. The Brooklyners have not lost a single step, and as the band themselves said, they’re only in their 20’s. It’s common for bands to claim an aspect of a tour is very momentous, but when Biohazard lauded the chance to come out here with childhood friends Life of Agony, you can feel they mean it. Biohazard may just be one of the most “real” acts in the alt-scene today, and for as long as they’ve been in it.