Illegal Foreign Object

Empire State Bastard’s Rivers Of Heresy is a wild-assed, break-neck grindcore romp — a topsy-turvy, time-shifting sprint born out of pandemic stress, uncertainty, and a desperation to create something unique.

Though Rivers Of Heresy is a debut album, the project isn’t new (in thought, anyway). Biffy Clyro‘s Simon Neil and former Oceansize frontman (and current Biffy Clyro touring guitarist) Mike Vennart have long-pondered and planned its creation. As far back as 2011, Vennart began “throwing things at Simon”. It took another seven years before the duo nailed down their sound, brought about by a rage-inducing political climate that sent Vennart into a headspace where he just wanted to “write some fast, angry, blastbeat stuff”. For Vennart, who is best known for Oceansize’s deliberate, airy sound, the music that became Empire State Bastard signaled a massive departure. When he sent the songs to Neil for his opinion, Neil responded with, “What the fuck is this?!”

The pair knew they were onto something.

Two years later and knee-deep in pandemic shutdowns, Neil finally had the time to work on the songs Vennart had sent him. The duo readily admits the project would have never happened without the extra time afforded them. “This project was just essential,” said Simon. “It helped get me through the pandemic – [as did] all the music I worked on – but this was how I could get that frustration and proper anger, and just not knowing what the fuck was happening in the world, how I could get that out.”

The results are one of the more enjoyable heavy records of 2023 — or, as the band calls it, “our love letter to metal”.

“Harvest” is not unlike what the Arctic Monkey’s Alex Turner singing the most extreme parts of Faith No More’s Angel Dust might sound like (which isn’t shocking — Vennart says hearing Mike Patton for the first time changed his life). “Blusher” grooves like Chaos A.D.-era Sepultura before giving way to the grindcore buzzsaw.

On “Moi?”, highly accessible crooning gets bludgeoned into submission by threatening banshee shrieks before fighting its way back from the brink to reestablish itself for the close. It sounds like a cackle of hyenas feasting on a brit-pop song. Simon Neil’s vocal dexterity is not to be fucked with.

“Tired, Aye?” is heavy as shit, despite being nothing more than vocals and drums. Dave Lombardo pummels his drum kit into dust — then beats away at the dust like an angry monkey. His drumming is relentless — the fire he still plays with after all these years is a testament to his love for what he does.

Simon’s bloodcurdling screams reach a fever pitch on “Stutter”, going toe-to-toe with Lombardo’s kickdrum assault. Bitch Falcon‘s Naomi Macleod’s fuzz-drenched bass attack is another highlight of the track.

♫”Thoughts, prayers, and love

Can somebody mean it?

Where’s your god?

I haven’t seen it”♫

For a “side project”, Empire State Bastard is unbelievably cohesive — the members sound like they’ve been playing together forever.

“Sold!” recalls the best of another Mike Patton/Dave Lombardo project, Fantômas, while “The Looming”, a six-and-a-half minute doom-stomp, closes out the album in fine fashion.

♫”I’ll never grow old in a graveyard

The devastation’s looming like Jesus

What’s it gonna take to believe us?

They can’t control you

Fuck what they told you

Let’s take it over”♫

Existential nihilism has never sounded so beautifully extreme.

Tracklist:

1. Harvest 9/10
2. Blusher 9/10
3. Moi? 10/10
4. Tired, Aye? 7/10
5. Sons And Daughters 8/10
6. Stutter 8/10
7. Palms Of Hands 8/10
8. Dusty 8/10
9. Sold! 9/10
10. The Looming 9/10

Grade: 85