Empire State Bastard descend further into darkness as they unleash the new track, "The Looming". Available today on all streaming platforms, it follows the band’s recent singles, “Harvest” and “Stutter”, as they power towards the September 1 release of their eagerly anticipated debut album, Rivers Of Heresy.
"The Looming" is an oppressive slow crush in which Mike Vennart’s grinding, maximum fuzz stoner rock riffs take on a hypnotic intensity as Simon Neil layers feral vocals with guttural death metal growls. It’s the final song on Rivers Of Heresy as well as the band’s regular set closer for good reason.
The band stated, “The end is nigh! The end is looming! Fuck what they told ya!”
The band’s debut album, Rivers Of Heresy, adventurously probes almost every dark crevice imaginable from the myriad sounds of metal and genre-adjacent extremity. Their terrifying tourist trail visits slamming hardcore in the vein of Siege; frenetic thrash in Slayer’s ballpark; the claustrophobic sludge of Melvins; the freeform vocal dexterity of Mike Patton; and the gargantuan stoner riffs of Sleep. It’s a sound with roots inspired by metal’s forefathers, but more deeply influenced by the weirder, darker and unconventional leftfield twists that the genre has since voyaged into.
Rivers Of Heresy is available to pre-order / pre-save here. In addition to its digital release, it will be released on the following limited edition physical formats: CD with an exclusive 24-page fanzine; poison green vinyl and red/black marble vinyl; and cassette. The Deluxe vinyl bundle adds a 7” single featuring “Harvest” and a non-album b-side to your choice of vinyl.
Furthermore, the band also shared that they will make their US debut at Chicago’s Riot Fest on September 17, followed by a NYC performance supporting Chat Pile at Le Poisson Rouge on September 20 - tickets for that date are on sale here.
Having recently announced their signing to Roadrunner Records, Empire State Bastard is led by Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro) and Mike Vennart (Biffy Clyro live guitarist and solo artist, ex-Oceansize), and features the legendary Dave Lombardo (Slayer, Testament, Mr. Bungle) on drums, with Naomi Macleod (Bitch Falcon) rounding out the live line-up on bass.
Tracklisting:
"Harvest"
"Blusher"
"Moi?"
"Tired, Aye?"
"Sons And Daughters"
"Stutter"
"Palms Of Hands"
"Dusty"
"Sold!"
"The Looming"
"Stutter" visualizer:
"Harvest" video:
(Photo - Gavin Smart)
