Powerflo – Gorilla Warfare
New Damage Records
8,0/10,0
Brief:
Powerflo combines the passionate, chaotic, and authentic urgency of a brand-new band with the unrivaled experience of its trailblazing members. Senen “Sen Dog” Reyes (Cypress Hill), Billy Graziadei (Biohazard), and Christian Olde Wolbers (ex-Fear Factory) are genre giants who shaped heavy music and hip-hop and continue to innovate in this band. Their collective creative fingerprints are all over subculture, including early mashups of hardcore and rap, metal and industrial, and more.
From ripping album opener “I’m A Killer” through brawling closer “Drinkin’ Beer and Gettin’ Loud,” and all of the bangers in between (like “War Machine,” ‘Fuck ‘Em All Day,” and “Isolation”), Gorilla Warfare, Powerflo’s blistering second album, is a full circle moment for the guys and the genre.
Rounded out by drummer Fred Aching Rios, the quartet balances unrelenting energy with veteran mastery. Songs like “Resistance,” “Where I Stay,” and “Victim of Circumstance” from their 2017 self-titled debut demonstrated severe intensity, integrity, and determination. All these things are values shared and represented by the guys who lent their talents and spirits to classics like “How I Could Just Kill a Man,” “Insane in the Brain,” “Edgecrusher,” “Archetype,” “Punishment,” and “Down for Life.”
“Powerflo’s mix of agit-rap, thrash metal, and punk attitude is a revelation to those who only know Sen Dog from his Cypress Hill joints,” wrote long-running metal tastemaker Revolver. “His vocals are clear and sharp, and he drives the band’s full-throttle crunch like a natural-born frontman.”
The group supported their debut on tours with Body Count and P.O.D. and at major international festivals. Gorilla Warfare is even heavier than its predecessor. The second full-length album from Powerflo is energetic, driving, and pissed off. It’s a record that, like the band, was built to last.
Billy is aware of the “sophomore slump” trope and sees a second album as make-or-break time. “A band’s second record is when they really cut their teeth,” he says. “The first record, you get used to each other and see which songs bubble up as the fan-favorites. Those develop into this strong DNA code. You channel all those lessons and experiences into making a great second record. We all love the metal side of Powerflo. Sometimes, the conversation is, ‘Let’s make it bouncier, like Cypress!’ Then, Sen is like, ‘No, let’s make it more slamming, like your bands.’ We are all fans of each other.”
Despite growing up apart, the brotherhood between Powerflo’s core trio traces back 30 years. Billy was born in Boston and came up in Brooklyn. Christian grew up in Belgium, listening to a melting pot of music via skateboarding. Born in Cuba, Sen came up on the streets of South Gate, California, in LA County. They all share a passion for aggressive, energetic, truth-telling, outsider art.
The groundbreaking Judgment Night soundtrack, released in 1993, was an early building block of the rap-metal mashups to come, featuring Ice-T with Slayer, Biohazard teaming up with Onyx, and Cypress Hill with Pearl Jam. Not long afterward, Sen Dog joined Billy and the boys on “How It Is,” from Biohazard’s classic third album, State of the World Address (1994). Christian first appeared with Cypress Hill on the platinum album Skull & Bones (2000) and co-founded Kush with Sen’s bandmate B-Real and Stephen Carpenter of Deftones. (Fred Aching Rios also plays with Billy in BillyBio.)
Powerflo began in 2017 when Sen reached out to producer Josh Lynch, who helped him put together some initial music. Soon, he reached out to Billy and then Christian, who also plays in the reactivated classic thrash band Vio-Lence. Downset’s Rogelio Lozano was part of the early lineup, and so was Brazilian drummer Fernando Schaefer. (Both parted ways with the band after the first album.)
Billy and Lynch produced the debut, with mixing duties handled by Jay Baumgardner (Godsmack, Papa Roach, Helmet). A few years (and the global pandemic) came and went, but Powerflo remained. The second album came together with even more confidence than the first, ambitious and unafraid.
The group’s frontman delivers arguably the most killer performance of his career thus far on Gorilla Warfare. “I pushed Sen harder than I’ve pushed a vocalist,” Billy confesses. “He stepped out of his comfort zone. Sen has a style; the way he flows over the riffs is where the name ‘Powerflo’ came from. But on this album, he dug deeper. I’m proud of all of us on this record. We nailed it.”
Gorilla Warfare not only cements Powerflo as a heavy hitter in the heavy music scene (and certainly as more than a “project”) but brings all its members full circle with a genre they helped pioneer.
Billy produced and recorded the album at his Firewater Studios in Los Angeles. Tue Madsen (Meshuggah, Suicide Silence, Sick Of It All) handled mixing duties. Maor Appelbaum (Faith No More, Halford, Sabaton), who mastered the first album, also mastered Gorilla Warfare.
Tracklist:
- I’m A Killer
- You Ain’t My Judge
- Gorilla Warfare (Feat. Ernie C)
- War Machine
- The Wrong One
- Head Strong
- Isolation
- Big Dog
- Fuck Em All
- Drinkin’ Beer and Gettin’ Loud
Main Focus Tracks:
- I’m A Killer
- War Machine
- Head Strong
Other Recommended Tracks:
- You Ain’t My Judge
- Gorilla Warfare (Feat. Ernie C)
- The Wrong One
- Fuck Em All
Line-Up:
Senen Reyes – lead vocals
Billy Graziadei – rhythm guitar, co-lead vocals
Christian Olde Wolbers – bass, backing vocals
Fred Aching – drums
Roy Lozano – lead guitar, backing vocals
Comments:
Powerflo, the innovative supergroup known for blending diverse musical styles, has unleashed its latest album, Gorilla Warfare. This project is a testament to their ability to merge genres seamlessly, showcasing a sound that is as powerful as it is modern!
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Selected Discography:
Powerflo (2017)
Gorilla Warfare (2024)
Photo Credit: Melissa Castro