Empire State Bastard announce UK/European headline tour

Having already destroyed plenty of special, intimate venues in 2023, as well as this summer’s festival circuit, Empire State Bastard have added even more chaos to their diary.

The duo – Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil and Mike Vennart – have just announced a new 10-date European and UK headline tour, which will follow the release of their debut album Rivers Of Heresy on September 1.

Even better, they’ll be joined by bassist Naomi Macleod and legendary Slayer drummer Dave Lombardo for the run, which kicks off in Paris on November 2, and wraps up in Glasgow 12 days later. In-between, they’ll play venues in Cologne, Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, Cardiff, Birmingham, London and Manchester.

Recently speaking to Kerrang! about getting Dave on board to play on Rivers Of Heresy, Simon explained: “He got back straight away saying, ‘I’ve not heard a heavy record like this in a long time.’ And it was that that really made me and Mike take this record, and this band, much more seriously. Until that point we were like, ‘We think this is good.’ But no-one else had heard it… And then when Dave Lombardo says [he’s] gonna drop everything and play on this fucking record, we were, like, r-r-r-r-right. Because we did need that kind of kick up the arse. My self-esteem isn’t always the best. Sometimes you need someone from the outside to go, ‘You know this is fucking excellent, right?’ So Dave gave us permission, and off we went.”

Catch Empire State Bastard at the following:

November

2 Paris Alhambra
3 Cologne Kantine
5 Amsterdam Melkweg
6 Berlin Heimathafen
7 Hamburg Uebel & Gefährlich
9 Cardiff University Y Plas
10 Birmingham O2 Academy2
11 London Electric Brixton
13 Manchester New Century Hall
14 Glasgow SWG3 Tv Studio

Read this: Empire State Bastard: “I’ve been needing to make a record like this for a long time”