Having taken their visceral fear and loathing to Glastonbury, Download, 2000trees and Hellfest, ESB descend further into darkness as they unleash the new track ‘The Looming’. It follows the band’s recent singles ‘Harvest’ and ‘Stutter’ as they power towards the September 1st release of their eagerly anticipated debut album ‘Rivers of Heresy’.
‘The Looming’ in an oppressive slow crush in which Mike Vennart’s grinding, maximum fuzz stoner rock riffs take on an hypnotic intensity as the track unfolds, its apocalyptic tone becoming more sinister as Simon Neil layers feral vocals with guttural death metal growls. It’s the final song on the ‘Rivers of Heresy’ album as well as the band’s regular set closer for good reason – what could possibly follow it?
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The outset of the accompanying video for ‘The Looming’ sees a warrior head out into a vast desert landscape. But his adventures become stranger with every turn, taking him from Jodorowsky-style surrealism to oppressive psychedelia and into some kind of future tech dystopia. In its climactic scene, the pyramids provide a historic symbolic location as the warrior heads into a new dawn for humanity. The video was directed and animated by Mike Bourne, who has previously crafted videos for GOAT and Part Chimp, and is a member of the cult psychedelic rock / ambient electronica band Teeth of the Sea
Rivers of Heresy is available to pre-order / pre-save. In addition to its digital release, it will be released on the following limited edition physical formats: CD with an exclusive 24-page fanzine; poison green vinyl and red/black marble vinyl; and cassette. The Deluxe vinyl bundle adds a 7” single featuring ‘Harvest’ and a non-album b-side to your choice of vinyl. Empire State Bastard have just launched a new limited edition poison green obi-strip vinyl format of the album, which is available exclusively via Assai Records.
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