New York-based BIOHAZARD guitarist Bobby Hambel is featured in a new interview with Metal Insider discussing the band's new album, Reborn In Defiance. An excerpt is available below:

Q: This marks the last Biohazard album without frontman/bassist Evan Seinfeld. The band has obviously been able to move on, but does Seinfeld’s departure still come as a shock to you?

Hambel: "Yeah, I’m still shocked. I was at rehearsal last night and although I’m playing and everything feels great and Scott’s doing an amazing job, once in a while in between songs I’m thinking 'Wow, this is so different,' and 'Why is he not here?' And it’s the same question you’ll have when any type of serious change happens in your life. You go 'Wow, this is strange. How did I get to this point?' But we’re getting used to it, the idea that he’s gone, and we’re just going to keep going. It was his choice. We didn’t choose for him to leave, we didn’t tell him he had to leave. Evan just made his choice, and that’s it. Hey man, we’re all grown men.

And I said this before and I’ll say it again, for me it was a little bit different cause I came back into the band. So I had a different goal, a different set of values here because of my past and mistakes. I needed to pick up the pieces and put my life back together in a lot of ways, and part of that was somehow and in some way regrouping with the band and going back out and playing to the people who’ll support us no matter what. And for me to get back with the band after all those years was like 'Wow!' Everybody said this could never be done, that this was never going to happen. Hence Reborn In Defiance, which implies to a lot but I’m just giving you one example. Anyway, here I am back in the band and I’m sure the rest of the guys are very happy in their own way, but I was really grateful and was really blown away at how life can really turn around for people.

Then when Evan left, inside I was a little upset, but then again I was like 'Wait a minute, he’s a grown man. We’re all grown men, and there’s no guarantees in life.' And the fact that we got the original band together after being apart for twelve years, and we stayed together long enough to tour the world for a little over two years AND do a fucking full blown studio album together, that’s more than any of us could’ve asked for! It was just a few years ago when we were still not speaking and the laws of the universe would never allow us to cross paths. That’s how it seemed. So I’m grateful for all of it, and we understand that we can’t expect any more out of life. We can’t demand that one of us stay in the band now if he’s got to move on with his life. So we’re just happy, and Reborn In Defiance will be a really special record for us."

Q: I find it really interesting how you view the album as a milestone for the band, as it rightfully is considering it’s the first album with the original lineup in about 18 years. Is that why the band opted to not rerecord Evan’s parts following his departure?

Hambel: "Yeah, because that would be dishonest. Evan, Billy, Bobby, and Danny made that record together. Whether we’re together now or in the future doesn’t mean shit, man. That’s the record we made together, and that’s the record that’s coming out. We’re not going to run back and say 'Ok, let’s erase all of his tracks and get a new singer in here and put his tracks on it,' after Evan just worked on it because it’s a piece of artistic expression. You can’t fuck with it, you can’t go back and change anything once it’s done. It’s like when you exhale breath, it’s gone. Whether it stinks or it smells fucking sweet, I don’t know but once you let it out it’s gone, it’s there. You can change the way the next one comes out, but once it’s exhaled, it’s exhaled."

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Biohazard will release their new album, Reborn In Defiance, on January 20th, 2012 via Nuclear Blast. The cover art is available below.

Danny Schuler says, "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."

Billy Graziadei explains, "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 sums up the cover art's significance quite simply: "It all begins in the womb".

To get some first sonic impressions, surf to Facebook and check 'Come Alive' and 'Vengeance Is Mine'.

Biohazard have announced the first US leg of their world tour in support of their upcoming record, Reborn In Defiance. The string of northeast shows started on January 15th in Albany, New York and ends February 18th in Sayreville, New Jersey.

January marks the beginning of an 18-month world tour for Biohazard, which also includes a co-headline with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES on the Persistence Tour in Europe, a short UK tour, several northeast dates with NYHC legends MADBALL, and the Soundwave Festival in Australia.

Below are all the upcoming northeast tour dates for the first part of their world tour in support of Reborn In Defiance:

February (with Madball)

8- Syracuse, NY - Station 58

9 - Portland, ME - Asylum
10 - Worcester, MA - Te Palladium
11 - Poughkeepsie, NY - The Chance
14 - Pittsburgh, PA - Diesel
15 - Richmond, VA - Kingdom
16 - Towson, MD - Recher Theatre
17 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
18 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom

Biohazard, Suicidal Tendencies, TERROR, WALLS OF JERICHO, LIONHEART and CRUSHING CASPARS are confirmed for the 2012 edition of the renowned Persistence tour which will take place from January 20th – 30th throughout most parts of Europe. Check out a new tour promo below:

The dates are as follows:

January

20 - Deinze, Belgium - Brielpoort
21 - Oberhausen, Germany - Turbinenhalle
22 - Hamburg, Germany - Docks
23 - Berlin, Germany - Astra
24 - Munchen, Germany - Werk
25 - Wien, Austria - Gasometer
26 - Stuttgart, Germany - LKA Longhorn
27 - Saarbrucken, Germany - Garage
28 - Dresden, Germany - Eventwerk
29 - Tilburg, Netherlands - O13
30 - Paris, France - Bataclan