Chaz Bond – Lead Vocals
James Riggs – Rhythm Guitar
Luke Nealeigh – Lead Guitar
Sam Nealeigh – Keyboard
Dan Nealeigh – Bass Guitar
Eli Closson – Drums
BioGenesis, a Hybrid Metal band located in Dayton, Ohio, was formed by vocalist Chaz Bond in 1996. After
fronting several local Rock and Metal bands, Chaz had grown tired of being in bands that only called for use of
one vocal style. This led him to form his own project, where he envisioned that he would be able to combine
musical styles and genres that were often considered a contrast to one another. Having a strong belief in God,
Chaz chose the name BioGenesis to represent his opinion on, and passion for the “creation vs. evolution”
debate.
In 1998, Chaz and drummer Joe Jonker entered a local studio and recorded the “Tunnel Vision” demo, with
Chaz performing the guitar and bass tracks in addition to the vocals. Shortly after recording the demo, Chaz’s
long-time friend James Riggs became the band’s guitarist.
With several new songs written, BioGenesis re-entered the studio in 1999 to record another demo, with
local bassist Ed Girard temporarily handling bass duties. This demo, which included the first versions of Bio
classics “The Mark Bleeds Through” and “Digging Your Grave”, led to the band happily welcoming bassist
Randy Walton as the newest official member.
In 2000, The band signed with Rowe Productions, an Australian label owned by Mortification front-man
Steve Rowe. Before entering a studio to record their full-length debut album, the band asked long-time
drummer Joe Jonker to step down, as the increasing technicality of their songs became too difficult to play
smoothly. A short search provided the band with drummer Nevin Cline, who was brought into the band just in
time to begin recording.
After completing the sessions for their debut album, the band was surprised to be informed by Rowe
Productions that the album’s production was not up to their par, and that the band would need to start from
scratch with a producer of the label’s choosing. With only a few days to record the album again, the band
quickly re-entered the studio with the label’s producer.
As James was recording his guitar parts, he became dissatisfied with his sound, and decided to tune
several steps lower than normal without consulting the rest of the band. This surprised Chaz, as he was now
unexpectedly faced with recording the album in an unfamiliar key. Nevertheless, the label was satisfied with
this new version of the album and it was released in 2001 as “The Mark Bleeds Through”.
“The music on The Mark Bleeds Through, I would describe as kind of a mid-paced thrash sound, almost a
groove metal, post-thrash thing. Very plodding, doomy and heavy. There are some monster riffs going on here,
which does get my head nodding along. The thing that sets the band apart, is the vocalist’s ability to go from a
deep baritone symphonic style…to a thrash scream and growling when needed. This is definitely not cookiecutter
metal here.”
After a US tour with label-mates Mortification, the band began writing for their second album. Unfortunately,
things began to unravel for the band as lineup changes and label issues slowed their progress. Both Nevin and Randy stepped down from the band, and as several replacements came and went, Chaz and James elected to
begin recording their second release, to be titled “Peace, Love, and Hypocrisy”, by themselves.
Enlisting Deliverance front-man Jimmy P. Brown as their producer, Chaz and James recorded the song
“Fallback” in 2002, which was subsequently released on Roxx Records’ Metal Marti Gras compilation. The
band requested a release from Rowe Productions, and signed a contract with Jimmy’s new label. This
connection proved too good to be true as Jimmy soon moved to Nevada, and the band was unable to travel
the distance to complete the recording of the new album. Chaz and James attempted several more lineups,
even recording the song “Catalyst For Malice” in 2004 with Chaz’s brother Seth Bond producing. This attempt
at completing the second album also proved ill-fated. Unfortunately, in 2005, a falling-out between Chaz and
James led to Chaz deciding to end the band, leaving fans worldwide disappointed that there would be no
sophomore release.
In 2009, Chaz decided to reform BioGenesis. Although he was busy with his other projects (he had replaced
David Taylor as the lead vocalist in Power Metal band Jacobs Dream in 2003, as well as starting another band,
Human Paradox in 2005), Chaz and James mended their friendship and began to seek out a way to finally
record another album. They signed with RetroActive Records and began their search for a drummer and
bassist.
Eventually, they enlisted both Nevin Cline and Randy Walton to rejoin the band for the reunion album.
Adding Paul Witte as a second guitarist, they began recording with Jacobs Dream drummer Gary Holtzman
producing. In 2010, the band decided to request a release from RetroActive Records after several unexpected
delays, and quickly signed with the England-based Soundmass Records instead.
After several complications and delays, the band released the long-awaited “The Rise, The Fall, The
Rebirth” in 2012. Although fraught with production and performance issues, the fans were happy to finally hear
the new songs they were promised several years prior.
“BioGenesis makes a seamless transition between The Mark Bleeds Through and The Rise, The Fall, The
Rebirth by continuing to focus on diversity. It starts with how the group takes a foundation of straightforward
heavy metal and mixes it with strong doses of thrash, modern groove, progressive and Gothic metal. Yes, a
wide array of styles, many of which make separate appearances within the same song, but it serves to support
the BioGenesis strength of walking a fine line between the aggressive (with bone crushing heaviness and
occasional extreme moments) and melodic (the material here is quite listenable – almost accessible – despite
the angst). This turbulent but creative merging of contrasts play out on the nine original The Rise, The Fall,
The Rebirth compositions and two bonus tracks…”
Unfortunately, complications in James’ life led to him once again stepping down from the band following the
release of the album. After Paul Witte also left the group, Chaz enlisted former Human Paradox guitarist Darin
Moore, and keyboardist Evan English to fill the vacancies. This lineup began to play shows promoting the new
album, gaining a large local following.
In 2013, Soundmass Records released “The Mark Bleeds Through: First Blood” which was the original
recording of the band’s debut album that Rowe Productions had rejected. The album also included three tracks
from the Tunnel Vision demo, as well as two tracks from the 1999 demo.
In 2014, after headlining two shows in Puerto Rico, the band entered a local studio to record what was
intended to become their third album, to be titled “Devolved”. Unfortunately, the revolving door of musicians
struck again, with Darin and Randy suddenly leaving the band. Darin also requested that none of the songs
written while he was in the band be used, leaving the band to start from scratch. Chaz, Nevin, and Evan
recruited a new lineup, including the return of James Riggs. This lineup, however, suffered from logistical
problems and disbanded after a few rehearsals, once again leaving fans without a promised album.
Although Chaz had begun another very successful project (Letters to the Blind), fans continually demanded
a BioGenesis reunion. In 2015, Chaz and James recruited local musicians Luke and Majennica Nealeigh to
begin secretly writing for the band’s third album. Shortly after, Chaz invited Luke and Majennica’s younger
brother Sam to play Keyboard, and their father Dan to play Bass.
On New Year’s Day 2016, BioGenesis announced it’s official comeback, releasing a re-recorded version of
the song “Never” (originally from The Rise, The Fall, The Rebirth), and announcing that the band had begun
recording it’s third album, to be titled “A Decadence Divine”, with guitarist Luke Nealeigh producing. This news
was released to overwhelmingly positive response.
A few months later, the band released a brand new track “Inside the Beast” on Facebook, and launched a
private group page where members of the band could post videos of the making of the new album for it’s fanbase
to watch. This led to BioGenesis signing a contract with Roxx Records in August of 2016.
BioGenesis’ third album “A Decadence Divine” was released in May of 2017 by Roxx Records to great
applause, with many fans and critics alike calling it BioGenesis’ best effort to date!
In July of 2017, as the band began to discuss what to do different with a follow-up album, drummer
Majennica Nealeigh unexpectedly announced that she would be moving to Athens, Ohio, where her boyfriend
was attending college. After a few months of trying to make the 6 hour round-trip work around the band’s
schedule, Majennica suggested that the band find a replacement drummer that could be more dedicated.
While no one in the band was happy to see her leave, the group agreed that it would be easier for all involved
to find a replacement.
The band began working with Eli in secret, while also writing new songs for the next album. The band
played it’s first show with Eli at the beginning of December 2017. The newest lineup was extremely wellreceived
by the old and new fans in attendance!
n January of 2018, the band officially announced Eli as it’s new drummer, and also announced that the
band had begun work on an EP to be titled “Black Widow”. The EP will include a cover song from Deliverance’s
album “Weapons of Our Warfare”, re-recordings of two old BioGenesis classics, as well as two brand new
songs! This will be a warm up for the band before it begins recording it’s fourth official album, which has not yet
been officially announced.
The band is extremely excited to release this EP to everybody, and could not be more pleased to be
working with Roxx Records! The band would like to thank every fan new and old for continuing to support us
after all these years; Bill and everyone at Roxx Productions for offering us this awesome chance to extend our
ministry to places we never would have been able to take it on our own; and of course, our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ for reasons FAR too many to list!