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LISTEN: Fall Out Boy Drummer’s New Project

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Fall Out Boy is on indefinite hiatus, but drummer Andy Hurley is busier than ever!

In addition to the Damned Things, his heavy metal band with members of Anthrax and Every Time I Die, the 29-year-old sticksman is working on another project: Burning Empires, a hardcore quintet featuring Stuart Ross, Ryan Morgan, and Kyle Johnson of Misery Signals, plus Matt Mixon, formerly of 7 Angels 7 Plagues. They’re all Milwaukee natives (and housemates!) with one ambition: to deliver their political message hard, fast, and loud.

Listen to Burning Empires’ new song, “Accomplice,” below.

Like Misery Signals and 7 Angels 7 Plagues, Burning Empires rip out a heavy, furious sound with thundering double kick drums, screeching electric guitars, and Morgan’s vicious screams. But with “Accomplice” — a song off the band’s early 2010 EP, Heirs of the Soil, to be released via their own Fuck City label — there’s an added element: a scathing message about the U.S. government’s war against animal and environmental activists.

Speaking exclusively to SPIN.com, Hurley, a devout vegan and follower of anarcho-primitivism, discussed the new band — and its message:

“This is a band I’ve always wanted to do with these guys, who have been best friends for about as long as Pete [Wentz] has been my best friend — over 10 years,” he said. “Burning Empires satisfies a heavier, more pissed off side of me that has been waiting to come out, and the politics of the band are so important to me. They’re issues for which I’ve wanted to have a musical outlet for years.”

Ryan Morgan agreed: “[‘Accomplice’] is a song about the guilt of existing in an ecologically destructive system,” from which “there is virtually no escape.”

“And should someone choose to take action,” he added, “they’re facing a disproportionate and heavy-handed response from the government. The FBI has labeled the animal rights and environmental movements as the ‘No. 1 Domestic Terrorist threat.’ It’s horrifying and it’s bizarre and backwards.”

Listen to “Accomplice” below, then tell us what you think in the comment section!

LISTEN: Burning Empires, “Accomplice”