DAVE LOMBARDO To Tour U.K. With 'Progressive Grindcore' Band EMPIRE STATE BASTARD

Former SLAYER and current TESTAMENT drummer Dave Lombardo has announced a short tour of the United Kingdom with a new "progressive grindcore" band called EMPIRE STATE BASTARD.

EMPIRE STATE BASTARD, which has yet to release any music, is the side project of BIFFY CLYRO guitarist/vocalist Simon Neil and BIFFY CLYRO touring guitarist and ex-OCEANSIZE frontman Mike Vennart. Rounding out the group's lineup is Naomi Macleod (BITCH FALCON) on bass.

Tour dates:

March 26 - Glasgow, UK @ Cathouse Rock Club
March 27 - Manchester, UK @ Rebellion Manchester
March 28 - London, UK @ The Underworld Camden

The band will also make several European festival appearances this spring and summer, including at Hellfest in France, and Download, ArcTanGent and 2000Trees in the U.K.

Last week, EMPIRE STATE BASTARD shared a first teaser of music.

The idea behind EMPIRE STATE BASTARD emerged when Simon and Mike would spend downtime on tour sitting at the back of the bus sharing the heaviest, most avant-garde or the most sickeningly confrontational music they could find. When thoughts turned to making their own sonic wasteland, Simon already had the band name in mind, leaving Mike with a particularly grotesque challenge: what music could he write that would live up to the name?

It took around a decade to find both the time and ferocity to make it happen. With Mike writing the songs and recording all guitars, and Simon focused on vocals and lyrics, they eventually emerged with a collection of songs which adventurously probes almost every dark crevice imaginable from the myriad sounds of metal and genre-adjacent extremity.

EMPIRE STATE BASTARD's terrifying tourist trail visits slamming hardcore in the vein of SIEGE; frenetic, visceral thrash in SLAYER's ballpark; the claustrophobic sludge of MELVINS; the freeform vocal dexterity of Mike Patton; and the gargantuan stoner riffs of SLEEP. It's a band that’s rooted in the tradition of metal’s forefathers, but informed by more recent waves of leftfield aggression.

Neil previously told NME that working on other projects, including EMPIRE STATE BASTARD, got him "through not touring — just knowing I can spend the year making new music."

He added: "I like putting myself in these positions where I'm like, 'I should never be doing this, so this is what I'm going to do.' I don't just want to do the same shit. Every time between records, I want to do something that's fucked up and off the wall. It brings me back to BIFFY, and I'm more in love with it now than I've ever been."

Lombardo, who has spent most of the recent years between crossover pioneers SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, horror-punk icons MISFITS, hardcore supergroup DEAD CROSS and MR. BUNGLE, was effectively fired from SLAYER after sitting out the group's Australian tour in February/March 2013 due to a contract dispute with the other bandmembers. He was later replaced by Paul Bostaph, who was previously SLAYER's drummer from 1992 until 2001.

Lombardo rejoined TESTAMENT last year.