Who doesn’t love a good supergroup? Empire State Bastard – founded by Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro) and Mike Vennart (Biffy Clyro) has released the official visualizer for their song “Moi?”. The track is off the band’s debut album, “Rivers Of Heresy”, which is being released on September 1 via Roadrunner.

Empire State Bastard also features drummer Dave Lombardo (Slayer, Testament, Mr. Bungle) and bassist Naomi Macleod (Bitch Falcon).

Vennart admits, “I set about making the most fucking poisonous vile music I possibly could, just unabridged hatred in musical form.”

Neil adds, “Lyrically, it’s as misanthropic and nihilistic as I’ve ever written.”

You’ll be able to pick up “Rivers Of Heresy” in digital form, plus CD with an exclusive 24-page fanzine; poison green vinyl and red / black marble vinyl; and cassette. The deluxe vinyl bundle adds a seven-inch single featuring “Harvest” and a non-album B-side to either album vinyl.

Neil and Vennart decided to form the band after touring together, playing the heaviest, most avant-garde and confrontational music they could find.

“Rivers Of Heresy” track listing:

01. Harvest
02. Blusher
03. Moi?
04. Tired, Aye?
05. Sons And Daughters
06. Stutter
07. Palms Of Hands
08. Dusty
09. Sold!
10. The Looming

Empire State Bastard plays their first U.S. headline show on September 23 at Brooklyn, New York’s Saint Vitus Bar.

Drummer Dave Lombardo was a guest of “The Jasta Show” and talked about his involvement in the band, “Simon Neil and Mike Vennart [are] from a very popular band in the U.K. called Biffy Clyro. [A lot of people in the U.S.] don’t know who Biffy Clyro is, but they’re massive in the U.K. They headline Download and Glastonbury  [festivals]; they headline Download the next day after IRON MAIDEN. So there guys are massive. But Simon Neil, the vocalist for that band, and Mike Vennart have a love and an affinity for hardcore music. And for the past 10 years they’ve been talking about this. And they hit me up during the pandemic and took a shot in the dark and said, ‘Well, why not? Let’s ask him. He might not wanna do it.’ But they asked. At first, I fell in love with the music. I was, like, ‘Wow. This is pretty fucking cool.’ Odd time changes. It’s a little thrashy. It has a little bit of grindcore in it. It’s hard to describe. It’s its own entity and it has a personality of its own. So to give it a description is really difficult. But it is in the hard music vein. And when I heard the music, I was blown away. And I agreed. And they sent me the files [for the album]. And I recorded the drums in my home studio, and I sent it back. And they were pleased.”

Pretty cool supergroup. Which has been your favourite over the years?

Written by Todd Hancock

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