Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil side-project Empire State Bastard share doom-laden new song ‘The Looming’

nme.com:

Empire State Bastard have shared a new single called ‘The Looming’ – listen to it below.The song will serve as the closing track on the group’s debut album ‘Rivers Of Heresy’, which is due for release on September 1 (pre-order/pre-save here).Following on from the cuts ‘Harvest’ and ‘Stutter’, the latest offering from ESB – the side-project of Biffy Clyro frontman Simon Neil, and their touring guitarist Mike Vennart (Oceansize) – strikes an apocalyptic tone, building in intensity over its almost-seven-minute duration.“They can’t control you/ They can’t control you,” Neil screams midway through over brutal, crunching guitars. “Fuck what they told you/ Fuck what they told you/ Let’s take it over/ Something to live for/ Something to live for.”At the end of the fuzz rock-inspired single, Neil repeats a sinister warning of impending doom from the opening verse: “I’ll never grow old in a graveyard/ Do any little thing that’s not too hard/ The devastation’s looming like Jesus, just like Jesus/ What’s it gonna take to believe us?”In a brief statement, Empire State Bastard said: “The end is nigh!

The end is looming! Fuck what they told ya!”Check out the official lyric video for ‘The Looming’ below.Speaking to NME earlier this year, Neil said that ESB were “going for extremity at all costs” while embarking on what he described as a “hideously horrific musical journey”.“Because we play together in Biffy, there’s no point in us doing another project that doesn’t feel miles apart,” he explained. “That’s a pet hate of mine, when people leave their full-time band to do another thing and it’s just a slightly different version of what they’re doing anyway.