Empire State Bastard share live footage video for Harvest, featuring heroic work from ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo

Empire State Bastard, live in London, March 28, 2023

(Image credit: Paul Harries)

Empire State Bastard have shared a new video for their debut single Harvest, filmed at their debut UK shows in Glasgow, Manchester and London in March, just days after the single's release.

It arrives as the grindcore supergroup - featuring Biffy Clyro's Simon Neil, ex-Oceansize frontman Mike Vennart , live bassist Naomi Macleod (ex-Bitch Falcon) and drum god Dave Lombardo - prepare for a summer festival tour which includes appearances at Download (June 9), 2000trees (July 7) and ArcTanGent (July 17).

A decade in the making, Empire State Bastard take influence from Siege, Slayer, Sleep, Melvins and the expansive catalogue of Faith No More/Mr. Bungle frontman Mike Patton.

The group 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 - with Vennart writing the songs and recording all guitars, and Neil focusing on vocals and lyrics - promises to "adventurously probe almost every dark crevice imaginable from the myriad sounds of metal and genre-adjacent extremity."

Songs premiered on the group's introductory tour included Sons and Daughters, Stutter, Palms Of Hands and The Looming.

Watch the video, directed by Nick Suchak, below:

Artists

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.