Biffy Clyro and Vennart side-project Empire State Bastard release debut single Harvest

ESB debut single artwork — Empire State Bastards' Harvest single artwork, by Daniel P. Carter (Image credit: Roadrunner)

Empire State Bastard, the extreme metal trio featuring Simon Neil (Biffy Clyro), Mike Vennart (Vennart, Oceansize, Biffy Clyro live guitarist) and Dave Lombardo (Mr. Bungle, Fantômas, Testament, Misfits, Dead Cross, Suicidal Tendencies), have shared their ferocious debut single Harvest.

Drawing upon the influence of Siege, Slayer, and the finest solo work of Faith No More frontman Mike Patton, the single is 2 minutes and 50 seconds of intense riffing, screamed vocals, and flat-out, pounding drums, with a chorus lyric which runs "It's high time you took what you've broken".

In a short statement, the band say, “Empires fall, States rise, Bastards sing…it’s Harvest time motherfuckers!”

Empire State Bastard evolved from Neil and Vennart listening to what they describe as "the heaviest, most avant-garde or the most sickeningly confrontational music they could find" during downtime between Biffy Clyro tours, and their forthcoming debut album promises to "adventurously probe almost every dark crevice imaginable from the myriad sounds of metal and genre-adjacent extremity."

Completed by bassist Naomi Macleod (Bitch Falcon) for live shows, Empire State Bastard have lined up gigs from this weekend.

They will play:

Mar 26: Glasgow, Cathouse (SOLD OUT)
Mar 27: Manchester, Rebellion (SOLD OUT)
Mar 28: London, The Underworld (SOLD OUT)

Jun 09: Download Festival
Jun 18: Hellfest, France

Jul 07: 2000trees Festival
Jul 17: ArcTanGent
Jul 21: Malakoff Rockfestival, Norway

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.