heavy metalempire state bastard
20:12 Monday, 7 August 2023
Empire State Bastard have announced details of their first ever U.S. headline show which will happen September 23 at Brooklyn, New York’s Saint Vitus Bar. Featuring special guests Beinn with additional support to be announced in the coming weeks, tickets for the special one night only performance are on sale now at dice.fm.
To celebrate the announcement, Empire State Bastard have also shared the official music video for their new track “The Looming” which was created by Mike Bourne. Available on all streaming platforms, “The Looming” 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 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, leading into Empire State Bastard’s first ever headline show they will take the stage 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 - 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"
"The Looming" video:
"Stutter" visualizer:
"Harvest" video:
(Photo - Gavin Smart)
