A Biffy Clyro and Slayer supergroup? You’d better believe it. Dave Grohl is already a fan of Empire State Bastard – Simon Neil and Mike Vennart’s “mortally raging” metal side project
You probably didn’t have Biffy Clyro’s frontman Simon Neil and live guitarist Mike Vennart down as the guys most likely to produce 2023’s scuzziest metal album, but with the heavyweight additions of ex-Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo and ex-Bitch Falcon bassist Naomi Macleod, they have produced a serious contender.
Empire State Bastard began years ago as a pipe dream that Simon and Mike discussed on tour. “It was always going to be extreme,” says Simon. “We didn’t want to just make a noisy record flippantly. We needed a valid reason to express that rage.”
With his frustrations at boiling point following Brexit and the pandemic, and Mike recovering from “a horrendous experience with the far right,” they found their reason. “I was just mortally raging,” fumes Mike. That fury is etched in the grooves of Rivers Of Heresy, Empire State Bastard’s snarling debut. The pair speak to TG together via Zoom about the making of the album – and they begin by explaining why Simon barely plays any guitar on it…
How do you form a band with the guitar player from one of the UK’s biggest bands and then not have him play much guitar in it? Simon: When you put it like that, it sounds preposterous, doesn’t it? My main worry was that when I pick up a guitar, it sounds like Biffy. I didn’t want to pick up guitar to begin with – so that it would have no resemblance to Biffy songs. I played a little bit of noisy guitar and some more kind of effect stuff. I think that was so important to let Mike do what he’s doing. There are a few people I play guitar around that make me feel like an amateur, and unfortunately, Mike is one of those people! Mike: When we first talked about it, I just assumed that he would play guitar. But when it came to the writing, I just went at it and did my own thing. I was experimenting with a new tuning, C standard, which you would think wouldn’t make such a drastic difference, but the feel of the guitar in that tuning was so inspiring. I’m ordinarily more of a sort of single coil player, you know, like clean, really nice, spidery guitar sounds, wiry stuff. This tuning made me just want to make f*cking riffs. It’s never been a forte of mine, but it came together this time.
How did you get Dave Lombardo of Slayer fame involved? Mike: When I was writing, I’d have a double espresso and a shot of tequila, and I’d set up the recording session. The bass track would say Shane Embury [Napalm Death], and the drum programming t
