HASSAN I SABBAH 7" and more stuff now available elsewhere...

Whoa over a year and no posts... that's pretty bad! What can I say? Been busy...

But as of late been digging up some old (and new) stuff and chucking it on ye olde Robotic Empire Bandcamp page. So far it's got a few newer releases and some older stuff, but more stuff is likely to wind up there than here (for now at least).

In the meantime here's the first "old gem" we posted:


Just came across the master WAV files for the oldass HASSAN I SABBAH 7". This shit rules, so its now available as a pay-whatever-ya-want highquality download!

* Robotic Empire bandcamp

That's pretty much it for now. Check out the Bandcamp page for future stuff... enjoy!

Robotic Empire & Mirror Universe - Free Sampler 2k10 - INFO N' JUNX

OK here's a little more info on all the songs you're about to download. We've slapped together 18 tracks from a bunch of different releases we've been a part of over the past year or so, along with a few our partner label Mirror Universe has busted out, as well as a few sneak preview cuts for all the diehards.

Thanks for checking this out, we hope you enjoy something here! -Team Robo

* Download Robotic Empire + Mirror Universe - Free Sampler 2k10 via MediaFire
* Download Robotic Empire + Mirror Universe - Free Sampler 2k10 via RapidShare
* Download Robotic Empire + Mirror Universe - Free Sampler 2k10 via SendSpace

1.) BAD SECRETS - Go and Leave
Originally from Robo 087, Self-Titled 9"+CD. Currently available both in physical format and digital download:
BAD SECRETS in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
BAD SECRETS on iTunes

2.) NEON BASTARD - Steven Tyler
Opening track on Robo 090, Meikhaus CD. Available September 7th, 2010 in physical format & digital download:
NEON BASTARD in the Robotic Empire - Online Store (link won't actually yield results until early September)
(search iTunes, emusic, amazonMP3 or whatever around early September)

3.) FLOOR - Downed Star
From Robo 084, Below & Beyond Deluxe Box Set or 8xCD set. Deluxe edition & digital downloads still available:
FLOOR in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
FLOOR on iTunes

4.) VANESSA VAN BASTEN - Fuck the Best, Take the Rest (teaser)
Teaser segment of a 9 minute song. Closer to the Small/Dark/Door available October 5th, 2010 as CD & digital:
VANESSA VAN BASTEN in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
VANESSA VAN BASTEN on iTunes

5.) TIDELAND - Braindead on the Interstate
Opening track from Robo 095, Asleep In The Graveyard 12". Still available from us on LP. Digital available too:
TIDELAND in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
TIDELAND on iTunes

6.) YOUNG WIDOWS - Lucky and Hardheaded (live)
Originally from Robo 97, Live Radio Performance April 6, 2009. Currently available on vinyl and digital download:
YOUNG WIDOWS in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
YOUNG WIDOWS on iTunes

7.) CAPSULE - Just Three Lines
Originally from a tour-only CD, then from a digital-only release, now also from Robo 094, Self-Titled (aka, Tape + Demo + Tour + More) which is currently available as a 12" LP and/or digital download:
CAPSULE in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
CAPSULE on iTunes

8.) DIAL - Sweating
Originally from Robo 088, Self-Titled CDep. Currently available as either physical CD and/or digital download:
DIAL in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
DIAL on iTunes

9.) HEWHOCORRUPTS - Sell em All (MIDI)
From Robo 076, Midi of Profits USB Bracelet (easily one of the wackiest releases we've done). Available here:
HEWHOCORRUPTS in the Robotic Empire - Online Store

10.) THOU - By Every Hand Betrayed
From Robo 089, Baton Rouge, You Have Much To Answer For 12" and cassette. Both currently available here:
THOU in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
THOU free downloads galore

11.) BATTLEMASTER - Death is a Warm Cube
From Universe #2, split 7" with INTER ARMA. Partner label Mirror Universe release, currently available here:
BATTLEMASTER in the Robotic Empire - Online Store

12.) MEDUSA - Mediatrix
From RoboTape05, En Raga Sul Cassette. Totally killer album, still available on tape and other formats here:
MEDUSA in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
MEDUSA on iTunes

13.) EMPLOYER, EMPLOYEE - Nil or the Nile
Originally from Robo 008, sic[sic] CD, now from forthcoming Robo 048, Discography 12". Available soonish here:
EMPLOYER, EMPLOYEE in the Robotic Empire - Online Store (link won't yield much until the 12" is actually done in a month or two)

14.) FLOOR - On the Money
Late-era demo from Robo 084, Below & Beyond Deluxe Box Set or 8xCD set. Deluxe edition & digital available:
FLOOR in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
FLOOR on iTunes

15.) ENEMY SOIL - My Religion
Originally from Fractured Theology 3" miniCD on Profane Existence, then from the Smashes The State discography 2xCD on Bones Brigade, now currently available from us as a digital download release:
ENEMY SOIL in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
ENEMY SOIL on iTunes

16.) INTER ARMA - 2000 Years
From Universe #3, Sundown 12". Partner label Mirror Universe release (split with Forcefield). LP available here:
INTER ARMA in the Robotic Empire - Online Store

17.) TIDELAND - Crash
Saddest track from Robo 095, Asleep In The Graveyard 12". Still available from us on LP. Digital available too:
TIDELAND in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
TIDELAND on iTunes

18.) VANESSA VAN BASTEN - Domio '95
From forthcoming Robo 078, Closer to the Small/Dark/Door. Available October 5th, 2010 as CD & digital DL:
VANESSA VAN BASTEN in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
VANESSA VAN BASTEN on iTunes

That's pretty much it. 18 random tracks from across the board. Most of this stuff is currently available, but some will be out real soon. Please check out our Online Store and/or blog though as that's where all the news and records wind up. Thanks!

-Robotic Empire
http://www.roboticempire.com/store
http://roboticempirenews.blogspot.com

Oh yeah, if you're into the whole "social networking" crap we wrangle some of that stuff too:

http://www.facebook.com/roboticempire
http://www.twitter.com/roboticempire

CREATION IS CRUCIFIXION - Antenna Builder (unreleased / final recordings)

Just found this lurking in the archives, the unreleased CREATION IS CRUCIFIXION "Antenna Builder" tracks. Originally intended for release across 2 splits (with PG.99 and PIG DESTROYER) that never actually happened, both the band and label hemmed and hawed about how to exactly release this material after they disbanded... until finally, nothing ever happened. We've talked about a proper release of this on and off for years, and I'm not saying it'll never happen, but in case it doesn't here the tracks are for free anyway.

There's so much to say about CREATION IS CRUCIFIXION that it could easily be as long as this blog's entire previous content, so I'll skip the general windbaggery overall. I will simply say that this band had a very lasting impression on a small group of people who seemed to actually "get it" as they were way beyond what a typical band usually is/does... CIC being actively subversive with graffiti writing robots, reverse-engineering video games (providing instructions in several languages explaining how to do so), WalMart-legal-team-inducing barcode swapping databases and generators, technical metalcore before most had even heard of the genre(s), and lots of other equally awesome and nerdy things.

Another blog (Blue Skies Above Us) has kindly provided much of the rest of the CIC catalog. Another experience of the band and a good read in general, you should probably check that out here if you aren't familiar with their back-catalog, as I don't necessarily feel that "Antenna Builder" is the best place to start. Although probably their highest-fidelity recording (captured in a European studio in the middle of touring there), while still solid, "Antenna Builder" doesn't exactly capture the raw energy and intensity of their two 12" releases, In_Silico and Automata.

There was some form of this material publicly available online years ago, which seems to be generally lost to time. These MP3s were just ripped from the original WAVs so they should be pretty solid quality-wise.

"Part 1" is buffered by a few minutes of noise, but is the last recorded "song" know of by CREATION IS CRUCIFIXION. "Part 2" is the ANTENNACLE remix version, constructed in part by folks also responsible for the mayhem known as BASTARD NOISE.

* download CREATION IS CRUCIFIXION - Antenna Builder (via MediaFire)
* download CREATION IS CRUCIFIXION - Antenna Builder (via RapidShare)
* download CREATION IS CRUCIFIXION - Antenna Builder (via SendSpace)
* download CREATION IS CRUCIFIXION - a bunch of other stuff (via Blue Skies Above Us)

RELATED LINKS:
* old CIC website (via archive.org) - still has most of the lyrics and other info on the band
* Deep Local - IT/tech project that vocalist Nathan Martin now helms
* ANTENNACLE on myspace
* CREATION IS CRUCIFIXION (and related) items in the Robotic Empire Online Store

BREATHER RESIST - Non-Album Tracks (Singles and Splits +demos)

This can't be every non-album thing that BREATHER RESIST recorded, but this is everything I have/could find.


I first met these guys under somewhat tumultuous conditions in their hometown of Louisville, Kentucky. One of the guitarists of DAUGHTERS, who I was touring with at the time, had issue with a guy in Louisville for knocking up his girlfriend's sister and generally being a deadbeat dad about it. Coming from a somewhat broken home situation, the DAUGHTERS vocalist announced every song they played that night with alternate song titles:

"Normally this song is called 'Pants, Meet Shit', but tonight its called 'Crowd, Meet Piece of Shit Deadbeat Dad'", etc.

While DAUGHTERS was performing, I could see members of the crowd getting visibly agitated. Here were these surly guys from Providence, Rhode Island basically spitting in the face of one of the locals... who was definitely there at the show and very upset, gathering up the biggest dudes he could find. I watched this unfold from a vantage point behind the merch table, fully expecting an ugly brawl to erupt at any time.

The "biggest dudes he could find" mentioned above, turned out to be part of COLISEUM and the bulk of BREATHER RESIST, who were also set to play after DAUGHTERS that night. Fortunately these guys actually had level heads, and didn't recklessly defend their friend (who, in the end, was clearly the one in the wrong). Long story short: the tension was high the whole night, and their set sort of suffered as a result. The whole show did really, but it ended on a lighter note when some young attendee completely unrelated to all parties involved tried to start a drunken argument with the DAUGHTERS guys over it.

"Why u comin to my town n' talkin shit?" again and again was all this belligerent fool could muster, and in the end with barely a retort from any of us, this kid was bawling his eyes out. He essentially ran away crying, which made NO sense but was pretty hilarious and shifted the mood a bit. Maybe off topic, but the point of all that is that my first impression of BREATHER RESIST was badly skewed, and it wasn't until I formally met them a month or so later that I realized what they truly had going on.

I'd jumped in the van with STOP IT!! for a weekend of shows (another story for another day?) which including a loose festival in North Carolina. BREATHER RESIST were also on the bill, and before they played I got a chance to talk to them about the DAUGHTERS/Louisville fiasco a bit. Lo and behold, these big scary looking dudes were totally friendly, approachable and generally very warm people. I hit it off with them right away with some mutual friends and interests, and was thoroughly blown away when they played. Almost like a bastard cousin of BOTCH, but with roots in the old Washington, DC scenes instead of those in Washington state.

An enormous amount of equipment was lugged in and set up by these guys. Four longhaired n' lumbering, barrel-chested beasts dressed entirely in black loaded in a sheer mountain of music gear, nearly a WALL of amps, creating an absolutely daunting image. Then the tunes kicked in: the lights hidden in some of the speaker cabinets blaring unexpectedly & directly at the crowd while these heathens furiously headbanged to the offkilter jams. The volume was incredible and the impact intense. I left with my jaw dropped, and the rest of STOP IT!! were equally impressed, despite their very different sound and varied musical tastes.

That's the memory of BREATHER RESIST that sticks out to me the most: the impact and fury of that first proper performance I witnessed that day. They became friends, stayed at my house over the years, turned into YOUNG WIDOWS and PUSHER, and continue to remain people I respect and admire today. YOUNG WIDOWS is still one of my favorite "heavy" bands going, and I feel somewhat privileged to have witnessed their progression.

What's included in this download is everything I could find by BREATHER RESIST that isn't on their two most widespread/album releases Only In The Morning and Charmer. I doubt it's everything non-album that they recorded, but its everything that I have or could find.

They released a handful of splits (w/ HARKONEN and SUICIDE NOTE), three additional singles ("Patent Cruciform Casket", "The Second Half" and "Full Of Tongues") and some additional tracks are included here as well, including demos/early versions of a couple songs that ended up reworked for YOUNG WIDOWS' debut album, Settle Down City. 17 tracks in total here, some of which have been available on blogs elsewhere, but most weren't ripped at a very good quality. I got as much of this direct from source as possible, and added in a few extra things that I've squirreled away over the years.

* download BREATHER RESIST - Non-Album Tracks (via MediaFire)
* download BREATHER RESIST - Non-Album Tracks (via RapidShare)
* download BREATHER RESIST - Non-Album Tracks (via SendSpace)

It should be noted that three tracks found in the download above are still in print on the split with SUICIDE NOTE, which is still available from Hawthorne Street. They had 15 copies left of this 2xCDep as of the blog posting, so please pick it up if you like those jams ("Rock N' Mass", "Bad With Dates" and "Working Title"). The two tracks from the "Patent Cruciform Casket" casket-shaped vinyl picture disc are also still available (see below).

We do our best to stock available BREATHER RESIST releases and their subsequent "members of" bands (PUSHER, YOUNG WIDOWS, BRAIN BANGER, BLACK CROSS, BAD SECRETS, etc) in our Online Store, so definitely check out some of this stuff if you like what you hear:

* BREATHER RESIST (and related) in the Robotic Empire - Online Store

Enjoy!

Italian Obscurities (?) + more stupid GODS & QUEENS shit

Our dawgs at Sons of Vesta records have made a section of their website full of free downloads that kinda mirrors this here blog: Lost & Found is what they're calling it.

Semi-related to Robotic Empire are the live ANCIENT SKY and PIZZA recordings from Richmond that are posted there, and fully-related to us is the GODS & QUEENS full EP they posted in full (with bonus QUICKSAND cover included)! That stuff and the other European jams they've posted are completely free and definitely worth checking out.

On that note, its worth mentioning that the GODS & QUEENS blog has been pretty hilarious (and insulting) lately. Plus, this old video they made never really got seen by anyone so its worth posting here too. Its from the 2nd track on the LP we released (just a few copies of that left):



So last but not least, we've got these fools' crap for sale:

* GODS & QUEENS in the Robotic Empire - Online Store

That includes the last of the debut LP we released (co-released w/ Adagio 830) and the physical 12" version of their newly imported EP, of which it seems we are the exclusive US distributor for? Pretty crazy!

LIGHT YOURSELF ON FIRE - new songs + INSIDE OUT (!) cover

Just posted this on our twitter account but figured it was appropriate here too:

LIGHT YOURSELF ON FIRE (who we released a tape for a few years back) have posted 3 new songs online for free download, plus an INSIDE OUT (!) cover if you scroll down a bit:

http://lightyourselfonfire.blogspot.com

Also semi-related is the old OMEGA MAN discography we posted a while back that LYOF features members of. Words.

MALADY - Demos

We were supposed to release the second MALADY album, but mid-way through the writing process Chris Taylor quit since he felt the band hadn't considered his vocals when writing the new songs. Not long after, the remaining members kicked out Johnny Ward since his drinking was getting in the way of his drumming (and general life functionality). I don't really know the full story, so definitely take all that with a grain of salt... that's just what I was told at the time.

What I do know is that what was supposed to become the sophomore MALADY album shapeshifted into the VERSE EN COMA ep, which ended up being a financial disaster since we spent a ton on the recording and it was only really 5 songs that just didn't sell all that well. The band never performed live under that name or lineup, and I don't even know if VERSE EN COMA vocalist Brian Markham (who went on to form ANCIENT SKY) ever even met everyone in the band... kind of a weird situation. Oh well.

What I'm posting here are two sets of MALADY demos. The first of which is a *super* early practice tape that I dubbed off Nathan from CRESTFALLEN when Chris Taylor played it for both of us on Nathan's boombox in Richmond one afternoon. I dunno that anyone really knew I was copying it, but if I hadn't this probably wouldn't now publicly exist since this was just for the band members to learn/rehearse the songs to. You can tell Chris' vocals are kinda temporary in a few spots, so take all that for what it's worth. Three songs (that all ended up on the album in the end) all on one MP3 file, since that's how I ripped it a million years ago.

The second set of demos is kinda late-MALADY, proto-VERSE EN COMA era. I think this is the stuff they gave to Chris which he wasn't too happy with. I'm not sure, but there's no vocals on these. I think these all have Johnny on drums still, sounding a little rough. Cool to hear, but yeah you can tell the band is sorta unraveling with this stuff. Best to jam the "self titled" MALADY album and the VERSE EN COMA "Rialto" EP, which coincidentally we still have a pile of.

* download MALADY - Demos (via MediaFire)
* download MALADY - Demos (via RapidShare)
* download MALADY - Demos (via SendSpace)

Again, raw/rough demos so don't expect studio-quality stuff exactly. A lot of what these guys have released over the years is now out of print, but if you want some physical products that these guys have put out, try the following:

* PG.99 stuff in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
* PYGMY LUSH stuff in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
* VERSE EN COMA stuff in the Robotic Empire - Online Store

Three obscurities (download) posts of Virginia bands in a row, with plenty more for down the road at some point. Lots to compile from all different eras of these dudes bands, so while it'll probably be a while, hopefully they'll be worth the wait.

PYGMY LUSH - 4 unreleased live songs

Over the years I've associated many changes to the record label with a certain group of musicians from Sterling, Virginia, specifically the Taylor brothers Mike & Chris and their surrounding friends. In the formative stages the first Robodog Records release was with pg.99 (split with my highschool band, Reactor No. 7), and even before then the first ever punk rock show I went to was in a basement to see the guys previous band, Nit Pic.

Years later when I "got serious" with the label and decided to change the name to Robotic Empire, a pg.99 7" release was again the (re)starting point. Throughout the years the label has evolved, and so have these musicians. Mannequin and then Pygmy Lush are just a couple of the bands the core dudes here formed that we went on to release records for... and I've only enjoyed their newest material more and more as the times go by.

Its no major surprise that I've associated another big life transition with some songs these guys have created. Pygmy Lush played in Richmond on October 24th, 2009 and it was easily one of my favorite sets seeing them play. They opened it up with a joint-set with Des Ark (playing songs they'd all written together in the weeks prior) and followed that with a set of a few oldies and 4 new goodies. Those 4 unreleased songs are what I'm posting here:

* download PYGMY LUSH - In a Hole (via MediaFire)
* download PYGMY LUSH - In a Hole (via RapidShare)
* download PYGMY LUSH - In a Hole (via SendSpace)

Brother JK "Jeeb" thankfully captured these songs via various microphones, and I am largely indebted to him as well as the band for giving me the soundtrack to some glorious yet difficult times. Songs can have different meanings from what you may take from the lyrics, but if anyone else out there gets even an instance of what I got from this stuff, I'm beyond satisfied. It can be a crazy world, and having a little audio help to get through it all can make a huge difference.

These were all recorded live so please keep that in mind when listening, and also that I have no idea what I'm doing with "mastering" so all I was able to do was make the recordings a bit louder... and thus, song to song the volume fluctuates a good bit. Jah willing these guys will actually get into a studio sooner than later to properly document these, and all the others that they're already cooking up. I can't wait to hear what they've got for us next, as they'll surely become the new soundtrack to an ever changing existence. Godspeed & peace out!!!

DRUGS OF FAITH - Collection (2002 Demo, 2004 Promo, 2008 Demo, Terrorized comp track)

This blog is something I wanted to make somewhat personal and give the backstory to all the music posted here, but the reality is "extra" time just isn't something that's likely to be in my sphere in the foreseeable future. So I'm just gonna post things here with the super down n' dirty, realquick explanation. Hope you dig the jams, that's what matters anyway.


DRUGS OF FAITH:
I think this is all their demo/promo stuff but the Questions demo (which I've never actually seen or heard - if anyone has that plz post a link in the "comments"). Total grind n' roll from Richard "The Grindfather" Johnson, infamously of the longrunning and generally underappreciated ENEMY SOIL, and later INDEX and AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED. The "mastering" is sort of hit and miss throughout these, but I normalized the volume the best I could for everything. Most of the pre-2008 songs ended up re-recorded for their debut "mini LP" on Selfmadegod Records. The 2008 demo has drummer extraordinaire Jake Cregger (TRIAC, HISSING CHOIR, JESUS OF NAZARETH, etc) and totally smokes! While he's not in the band anymore, it still sort of shows where DRUGS OF FAITH may be going, as they just announced a forthcoming sophomore album (yet again for release on Selfmadegod). Grindfather, hail!

* download DRUGS OF FAITH - 2002 Demo, 2004 Promo, 2008 Demo & Terrorized comp track - via MediaFire
* download DRUGS OF FAITH - 2002 Demo, 2004 Promo, 2008 Demo & Terrorized comp track - via RapidShare
* download DRUGS OF FAITH - 2002 Demo, 2004 Promo, 2008 Demo & Terrorized comp track - via SendSpace

BAND WEBSITES:
* http://www.drugsoffaith.com
* http://www.myspace.com/drugsoffaith
* http://www.disposableunderground.com (Rich's longrunning & awesome free zine)

RELATED ITEMS IN THE ROBOTIC EMPIRE - ONLINE STORE:
* AGORAPHOBIC NOSEBLEED
* DRUGS OF FAITH
* ENEMY SOIL
* JESUS OF NAZARETH
* TRIAC

Reader Submission: THE ABANDONED HEARTS CLUB - Final Piece of the Puzzle

Big ups to Rik from Midnight Manhunt for sending over a THE ABANDONED HEARTS CLUB session not covered in our (er, How They Intend To Heal's) previous "discography" post about the band. He pretty much spells out everything there is to say, so... without further blathering:

Subject: robotic obscurities: the abandoned hearts club
hi there Robotic!
i read the blog post about The Abandoned Hearts Club and may have something for you.
right when the band self-released their own CD (before it was re-released by Init), i ordered their CD and got a free CD-r with it. The CD-r (with artwork and liner notes) contains 2 songs recorded live for a radio session.

maybe it would be something for your obscurities blog?

here's the download link: http://www.mediafire.com/?b3nmttejjoh
some more info: This was recorded live in Studio 3 for re-broadcast on CIUT's "Equalizing-X-Distort". The Abandoned Hearts Club played on Sunday April 7, 2002 at 10:30 pm. The band played 5 songs, but due to technical difficulties we were only able to capture 2 songs. The CD-R which this was released on was limited to 20 copies.

i added the front and back from the CD-R as well here.

cheers,

rik
www.midnightmanhunt.com
www.millionsofthem.be

Thanks again Rik, if anyone else has "reader submissions" to send in, please go fer it!

TRACK OF MONARCHS - live recordings

TRACK OF MONARCHS was a short-lived project that some of the NEIL PERRY / THE NOW / WELCOME THE PLAGUE YEAR guys were a part of directly after the demise of WTPY. Quote the band:
track of monarchs is a band from philadelphia. we started playing as a three piece in december of 2005 and played our first shows in june of 2006. we played our last shows in august 2006.

These dudes always liked PORTRAITS OF PAST and GODSPEED YOU BLACK EMPEROR, and TRACK OF MONARCHS sort of sounds like they were trying to find common ground between the two... but as a three piece instead of a five or eight piece. Atmospheric screamo? I dunno.

Mike Haley from The Electric Human Project label (and a million other projects) recorded every night of their sole tour, in hopes of duplicating and selling cassette tapes of the set the audience had just watched. Although a pretty cool idea in theory, I think logistically something went wrong and little to no tapes were actually made. Regardless, some recordings did survive and Mike sent them to me for ya'll to enjoy:

* download TRACK OF MONARCHS - live tracks (via MediaFire)
* download TRACK OF MONARCHS - live tracks (via RapidShare)

I don't know if the songs ever had formal titles; instead here are the locations and dates of the five tracks enclosed:

1. Pittsburgh, PA (06/28/06)
2. Kent, OH (06/29/06)
3. Kent, OH (06/29/06)
4. Detroit, MI (06/30/06)
5. Fort Wayne, IN (07/01/06)

PERSONAL:
Larry Everett - drums (formerly vocalist of JOSHUA FIT FOR BATTLE and WELCOME THE PLAGUE YEAR, now drummer of KICK ROCKS)
Jon Marinari - bass/vocals (YOU AND I, NEIL PERRY, WELCOME THE PLAGUE YEAR)
Chris Smith - guitar/vocals (NEIL PERRY, THE NOW, GET FUCKED, WELCOME THE PLAGUE YEAR)

RELATED ITEMS IN THE ROBOTIC EMPIRE - ONLINE STORE:
* KICK ROCKS items in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
* NEIL PERRY items in the Robotic Empire - Online Store

OMEGAMAN - discography + more GARUDA stuff (unreleased demos, etc)

CD cover at left (sticker below)
OMEGAMAN were a classic 1990's underground band: straight-edge, hardcore, and introduced almost every song with a movie sample. The thing that set this band apart, and the reason why they always stuck out to me, was their decidedly metal approach to hardcore. In the mid-90's metal and hardcore were almost completely different worlds, and the term "metalcore" didn't even exist yet. There were definitely other bands mixing metal and hardcore, and had been for years, but before OMEGAMAN I hadn't heard anything quite like this.

Being a rabid REVERSAL OF MAN fan, I got the 403 Chaos CD comp they were on, and was introduced to ASSUCK, CAVITY, COMBATWOUNDEDVETERAN, OMEGAMAN and some other killer Florida bands this way. All my summer jobs' money got spent with the mailorder distros Bottlenekk, Vacuum and Very, and the OMEGAMAN CD surely came from one of them.

Listening to this again over a decade later, it does sound a bit dated... but it's also still brutal and fairly ahead of its time. I'm throwing in all the compilation tracks that I could find, so here's the OMEGAMAN discography as best I could assemble it:

* download OMEGAMAN - discography (via MediaFire)
* download OMEGAMAN - discography (via RapidShare)

Also dug up this ancient description from No! Records, the label that released OMEGAMAN, by searching the Internet Archive Wayback Machine:
"Crawling from the ashes of Scrog came OMEGA MAN. A biting blend of Protestant - era Rorschach and the Accused's intense thrash punk, they released 2 songs on compilations and 1 self titled CD EP. The first 1000 copies of this EP were released by the band in 1997 and quickly went out of print with no airplay or distribution, only playing local Tampa Bay area shows with bands like Scrotum Grinder, Reversal of Man & Assuck. No Records repressed this record shortly after with a full color sleeve designed by graphic arts master John Yates (formerly of Allied Records), depicted pictures from the 1971 Sci-Fi flick, Omega Man. This repressed version is still available for $4.00 ppd in the USA, or $6.00 ppd anywhere else. Comes with a lyric sheet and Omega Man sticker."

Finding the dude from No! Records online, he gave me the thumbs-up to post this stuff. Everything included here is out of print, except for the song "Definition" that only a 30-second clip of is included. That song can be found on The Emo Phillips Diaries: From Tampa to Eternity CD comp which is available for just $4 here.

Dudes from OMEGA MAN came from the ashes of SCROG, who's discography can be found for $5 here. A couple of the OMEGA MAN guys are now playing in LIGHT YOURSELF ON FIRE, along with the vocalist of REVERSAL OF MAN. We released a cassette tape for LYOF which is now sold out, but some other items of theirs can still be found in our Online Store:

* LIGHT YOURSELF ON FIRE items in the Robotic Empire - Online Store


BONUS: just found some more GARUDA stuff! (see below or click here for the first post about this band)

The original GARUDA demo was also unearthed in the bottom of a closet, which has four tracks recorded live (a bit more info can be found on the "press sheet" that they included with the demo). Three of these songs got re-recorded for Cold Wired Sentiment, but the last one remains exclusive to this demo. Also found in the same CD case was the other then-new studio tracks they sent us along with their contribution for the Mutation comp. Their track for the comp was called "Thirteen" and the CD-R of new songs was only labeled "12, 14, 5" which makes me guess those were the song titles. Anyway, the original CD-R hasn't survived too well over the years, so apologies for the small amounts of digital clipping that occur once or twice throughout these tracks. Pretty certain these never saw the light of day elsewhere, so enjoy these "new" GARUDA songs!

* download GARUDA - original and unreleased demos (via MediaFire)
* download GARUDA - original and unreleased demos (via RapidShare)

If you like these jams please consider picking up the Mutation CD comp that we released. GARUDA kicks things off on it, and we're asking less than 5 bucks for it. You can find it in the Robotic Empire - Online Store.

THE NOW - Self Titled CDep, NEIL PERRY - Jams and CANEPHORA - "Discography"

Please bear with me here, this one is longwinded.


Long disbanded mainly due to scheduling conflicts (every member was in a different band, some very active ones), THE NOW existed for a few years in Freehold, NJ and Philadelphia, PA. Robotic Empire was based out of Jersey at the time and I lived with their guitarist Josh, so I got to be around for the majority of the band's activity.

THE NOW originally started during a slow period for NEIL PERRY, with whom THE NOW shared 3 of the 4 members. I think some of the guys were looking to stretch their songwriting into a more aggressive ADD-friendly territory, and thus THE NOW was formed. A very boiled-down description could be: "techy metalcore with decent breakdowns and excellent sludge riffs, all in super-condensed songs with almost no repeating parts".

They originally had two vocalists, and played their initial shows this way. It all sounded awesome and the two complimented each other well, but when it came time to hit the studio, one of the vocalists blew out his voice almost immediately. It resulted in a very awkward day in the studio for everyone, as by the end of it all only one vocalist's tracks made the cut. That's mainly due to the whole EP being recorded and mixed in just one day. This was just how things were done with the shoestring budget we had back then. I think the EP still turned out sounding pretty damn good for being tracked and mixed in just a single day, but it's definitely a bummer that Derek's vocals got cut and were never able to be re-tracked.

Things were sort of shaky within the band after the weirdness of the studio experience; I think Derek felt pretty rejected and just sort of kept himself out of the picture. Not too long after recording the band was set to go on a brief tour with NEIL PERRY, but Kevin didn't go for reasons I never fully understood. The guitarists Chris & Josh handled vocal duties on this sole tour, and after returning home went into hibernation while NEIL PERRY's activity picked up again.


Regardless of the lineup changes, people still seemed really pumped about this band and we ended up doing a few different pressings of the CD. Above are images of the covers for the original pressing (left) and re-presses (right). One of the later pressings had a laser-etching underneath the bottom of the disc itself, which was stupid expensive and probably nobody even noticed it. If anyone has a scan or photo of this etching, please send it over as it's unfortunately not been saved in our archives. update: thanks to Joe Birone for the scan of the CD etching! (see below)


A vinyl edition was eventually pressed as a one-sided clear LP with no center labels, and Chris Smith from the band silk-screened 4 colors of ink on the side without music. This created a very cool pseudo-picture disc, but due to less than sterile work conditions, more than a few copies had some ink on the playable side of the record. I believe three different Gary's were used in the artwork, and roughly 110 of each Gary were used across 330 LPs total. To date, this is the smallest single pressing we have done of any vinyl release.

At some point things slowed down again for NEIL PERRY and a lengthy search for THE NOW's replacement vocalist eventually lead them to an old friend of mine from Virginia named Shawn Lindsey. Shawn had previously handled vocals in the freakishly-ahead-of-their-time Virginia Beach metalcore outfit CANEPHORA. Most of THE NOW dudes were total CANEPHORA fanboys so when he came up to hang out, it was a relief that everyone hit it off well. I think another relief was for the bassist Dave finally having another drug-free ally in the band, as everyone else was blazing constantly and it was pretty much impossible not to absorb a contact high at their practices.

They tried to keep things going for a while after Shawn joined the band, writing a couple of new songs and playing a handful of shows, but in the end I think the heavy activity of A LIFE ONCE LOST and HOT CROSS became too overwhelming to continue THE NOW, and they eventually just faded away without ever properly recording the new songs.

So I'm posting here everything I have from THE NOW. This is the six-song EP, plus two rough, incomplete practice demos of the new songs. These are probably just guitar and drums, and don't even get all the way through the songs... which eventually turned out to be pretty awesome. This is all I've got though so here it is:

* download THE NOW - Self-Titled EP +practice demos (via MediaFire)
* download THE NOW - Self-Titled EP +practice demos (via RapidShare)

THE NOW PERSONAL:
* Kevin Hardy - Original Vocalist (also drummer of JOSHUA FIT FOR BATTLE and WELCOME THE PLAGUE YEAR)
* Derek Luchenbach - Original Vocalist (original NEIL PERRY drummer)
* Shawn Lindsey - Later Vocalist (CANEPHORA)
* Josh Jakubowski - Guitar (NEIL PERRY, HOT CROSS, SUPERSTITIONS OF THE SKY, JOSHUA FIT FOR BATTLE)
* Chris Smith - Guitar (NEIL PERRY, WELCOME THE PLAGUE YEAR, TRACK OF MONARCHS, GET FUCKED)
* Dave Turtzo - Bass (GET FUCKED, TORNADO OF KNIVES)
* Justin Graves - Drums (NEIL PERRY, A LIFE ONCE LOST)


Closely related was NEIL PERRY, who were maybe a bit more traditionally "screamo" vs. THE NOW, but still had plenty of heavy/hardcore/metal elements to help them remain atypical. One of the more left-field things they did was "jam" a lot. These songs were definitively mellow, and this was almost surely due to the impressive amounts of weed consumed before practicing, performing, recording... just about everything. A couple of the better "jams" were recorded and released on splits, but for unclear reasons didn't make their way to the Lineage Situation discography 2xCD that Level Plane released. These, plus one more jam I captured live on an old minidisc recorder can be found below:

* download NEIL PERRY - Jam Songs (via MediaFire)
* download NEIL PERRY - Jam Songs (via RapidShare)


And last but not least, the CANEPHORA "discography". Several different times we attempted to release this material (and re-mixed material) as a proper discography... but the delusions of bassist/engineer Jarred Pritchard pretty much repeatedly sank that ship. I know an entirely re-mixed, cleaned up and really good sounding version of this material does exist, but I'm not holding my breath on it ever actually seeing the light of day. Instead, here's the original, probably un-mastered, rawer version of CANEPHORA's released material. As far as I can remember, two or three songs here are from the At A Loss For Words 7" released by Moo Cow, one is from The Caligula Effect compilation released by Catechism and the other(s) is/are otherwise unreleased:

* download CANEPHORA - Discography (via MediaFire)
* download CANEPHORA - Discography (via RapidShare)

I know CANEPHORA also had a demo tape that was from a different recording session, but I don't have it. If anyone has this and wants to upload it, please let me know and I'll post it here. Dudes from CANEPHORA ended up going on to join THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, JESUIT, CONVERGE and of course, THE NOW.

"MEMBERS OF" ITEMS IN THE ROBOTIC EMPIRE - ONLINE STORE:
* A LIFE ONC LOST items in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
* CONVERGE items in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
* THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN items in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
* HOT CROSS items in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
* NEIL PERRY items in the Robotic Empire - Online Store

Unreleased/early GODS & QUEENS songs + VERSOMA demos

Jamie Getz is a smarmy bastard. I don't even remember meeting this guy, but I do clearly recall seeing him and Alexander T near-fighting each other on stage, mid-LICKGOLDENSKY-set at some poorly attended festival in Cleveland years ago. Alexander was clearly mad and just trying to do his frontman thing, but Jamie had a huge grin on his face while he's playing guitar and simultaneously throwing chairs and water jugs at the vocalist of his band. I think Getz gets away with a lot because he's a badass songwriter, and an all around hilarious motherfucker. Dysfunctional to say the least but the guy's got a heart of gold, and thus we've been suckered into releasing several things by this maniac now.


The first, a trainwreck known as VERSOMA, is probably one of the most underrated Robotic Empire releases sonically, but logistically was a total nightmare. Most of the band didn't really get along too well, and all I wanted to do was release a simple record that ended up turning into a total mess.

Directly after the disastrous dissolvement of LICKGOLDENSKY, but with a full US tour already booked, I witnessed Jamie and hyperactive drummer Eric McManus throw together an incredible near-improv live set under the moniker GODS & QUEENS. They knocked out 4 or 5 songs in as many days prior to the lengthy tour with HOT CROSS and wouldn't you know it, the songs were awesome. I asked Jamie to do a simple, two-man record after hearing a demo he'd done with another drummer and he agreed. Fast-forward a few months and he's gone and assembled a full band, with members spread across 4 different states. GREAT.

Although VERSOMA didn't make it in the long run, they did manage to nearly steal another band on our label's already existing name... and knock out one killer EP in the process. Life During Wartime was the result, 6 tracks of all kinds of weird shit on the outer crests of the "hardcore" realm... that make perfect sense in hindsight after hearing what the members went on to re-create separately in the forms of TOMBS and GODS & QUEENS... round two.

I'm posting the original demo material of VERSOMA's Life During Wartime. It's 5 of the 6 songs from the EP, 1 song missing vocals and 1 on there twice (with and without vocals). I feel like this band could've been really popular had they managed to overcome trivial personal squabbles, but in the end with Mike Hill going the direction he has with TOMBS and Jamie Getz going the direction he has with GODS & QUEENS, I'm just happy the two VERSOMA guitarist/vocalists are still making good jams... even if not together. Both of those dudes are total lifers.

* download VERSOMA - Life During Wartime demos (via MediaFire)
* download VERSOMA - Life During Wartime demos (via RapidShare)

It should be noted that these are raw demos and probably not even fully mixed, so if you're into what you hear here... the proper release of Life During Wartime is still available from us on both CD and vinyl, and probably will be for ages as we pressed way too many and the band broke up DIRECTLY after it came out (thanks guys).

Anyway the CD is less than 5 bucks and the vinyl is under 8. Our stuff doesn't get much cheaper than that, and you can find Life During Wartime here in the Robotic Empire - Online Store.

The two-man demo track mentioned above was eventually released by Level Plane on their "80 Records and We're Still Not Broke (Yet)" 2xCD sampler/compilation (still available here) under the moniker GODS & QUEENS. This eventually got scavenged by VERSOMA, but I still think this song rips... and honestly sort of wish everything else turned out sounding similar. Whatever, the end results of everything still sound cool, but this should at least give you an idea of why Robotic Empire foolishly got involved with Jamie Getz in the first place:

* download GODS & QUEENS - Song #1 (via MediaFire)
* download GODS & QUEENS - Song #1 (via RapidShare)


Also closely related to all of this is Getz' resurrection of the original name and idea: GODS & QUEENS, who as a relatively new band have somehow managed to stay together more than a few months past the release of their debut, untitled, which we've made as a CD and 12" vinyl packaged together. This is currently available in the Robotic Empire - Online Store.

Although I hesitate to say anything in fear of jinxing it, my fingers are crossed for these guys to stay together for a while as I (and others) really like them, and they're a pretty solid trio of dudes too. Anyway, they recorded a whole separate (possibly better sounding) version of untitled prior to pissing off the original engineer and the whole thing getting scrapped. One song wasn't re-recorded when they hit the studio in Brooklyn, and with the band's approval we're posting it here:

* download GODS & QUEENS - untitled (8?) (via MediaFire)
* download GODS & QUEENS - untitled (8?) (via RapidShare)

So while Jamie may be a surly sonuvabitch, I imagine we'll continue to end up working with this fool for ages.

RELEVANT LINKS:
* ANODYNE items in the Robotic Empire - Online Store (Mike Hill's band pre-VERSOMA and TOMBS)

* GODS & QUEENS items in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
* GODS & QUEENS on myspace

* VERSOMA items in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
* VERSOMA on myspace

* TOMBS items in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
* TOMBS on myspace

GARUDA - Cold Wired Sentiment

2002 release of GARUDA's sole non-robo output, Cold Wired Sentiment. We had these guys open up our Mutation compilation as their track ripped the hardest, and the material found on this debut EP is equally powerful. They mix the perfect amount of death metal, grindcore, melody and sludge as only sons of Texas could produce.

Got to see these dudes live once in Richmond and they absolutely devastated. Had they stayed together I truly think they could've been a household name (in the metal underground world, of course).

* download GARUDA - Cold Wired Sentiment (via MediaFire)
* download GARUDA - Cold Wired Sentiment (via RapidShare)

Pretty much punk-ish grinding death metal with memorable riffs galore. Don't know anything else about this band, what the dudes did after GARUDA broke up, etc. What I do know is that this EP totally shreds, is probably long unavailable (released by the obscure "So, Why Worry?" label/zine) and the only other thing available by these dudes is Robotic Empire's Mutation compilation CD release.

We're selling Mutation for only 5 bucks so if you like what you hear on Cold Wired Sentiment, please consider checking out Mutation!

UPDATE: be sure to also check out this post for additional demos and a few final, unreleased songs from GARUDA!

HISSING CHOIR - First Show (live, 3 songs) +videos

Figured I'd kick this project off with the recordings that put this whole idea in my head in the first place. Cleaning up the office a few months ago I came across some old minidiscs, and this brief little monster in music history was buried within.

This is a (rough) recording of the first ever HISSING CHOIR show. They were a short lived (but never truly "broken up") band comprised of members of PG99, CRESTFALLEN, PIG DESTROYER and TRIAC... essentially trying their hardest to sound like SWANS but still being fairly unique. These are three songs from their first show, so it's sorta rough around the edges, but still pretty intense for a FIRST SHOW. Not sure if these guys will ever actually release anything so I decided to finally upload this. I think the mic got dropped during the first song while I handed Mike a beer bottle to use as a slide, so that may explain the partial dropout about halfway in the first song there. Not positive, but I think the show was sometime in October of 2003 at the Talking Head in Baltimore, MD (it may have still been the "old" Ottobar back then?). It was recorded with a cheapo Sharp brand MD-MT15 portable minidisc recorder and a tiny clip-on interview mic, which sorta explains why it doesn't sound amazing. Better than nothing though, hope you enjoy this!

* download HISSING CHOIR - First Show (live, 3 songs) (via Internet Archive)

Also relevant to this posting are the only (known) video recordings of HISSING CHOIR, shot at the Banks St. Warehouse in New Orleans, LA. This was filmed by Anderson Cook, probably also in late 2003. The first link below is the original file of "part 1" of this live video, with little-to-zero quality loss from the original upload. The "mirror" link of that is the smaller, compressed version hosted on YouTube. I couldn't find the original, uncompressed file for "part 2" of the show, so YouTube is all there is of that.

* watch HISSING CHOIR - Live part 1 (via Internet Archive - original file, high quality)

* watch HISSING CHOIR - Live part 1 "mirror link" (via YouTube - lower quality, faster loading)

* watch HISSING CHOIR - Live part 2 (via YouTube - *if anyone has the original file for this please contact me*)

And last but not least, HISSING CHOIR did sort of sneak one officially release out there under nearly everyone's noses. Chrome Peeler Records did a compilation CD called You've Got You Orders - Volume One for their very first release that features a bunch of bands & artists recording material based on existing song titles provided by the label.

Chris Taylor was asked to contribute, so he sent in a song from HISSING CHOIR practice session recorded live in the band's rehearsal space. Unfortunately no vocals were recorded, and this is an even earlier version of the same song viewed above in part 1 of the live videos... but it is a bit more audible than the other available HISSING CHOIR recordings.

* download HISSING CHOIR - Practice Session (1 song) (via MediaFire)

PLEASE NOTE: The You've Got You Orders - Volume One compilation CD (and it's stellar followup) is still available from Chrome Peeler Records for a very reasonable price. If you like this song, we highly encourage you to pick up the compilation CD(s) as they both have a lot of killer artists contributing some pretty unique songs.

HISSING CHOIR LINEUP:
Vocals - JR Hayes (Pig Destroyer, Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Enemy Soil, etc.)
Guitar - Mike Taylor (Pageninetynine, Pygmy Lush, Mannequin, Majority Rule, Haram, etc.)
Guitar - Nathan Grice (Crestfallen, Heavens, Dead To Me, etc.)
Bass - Chris Taylor (Pageninetynine, Pygmy Lush, Mannequin, Malady, etc.)
Drums - Jake Creggar (Triac, Drugs of Faith, Jesus of Nazareth, etc.)

Also, the above photo by Richard "The Grindfather" Johnson, from his ancient and impressive (and now online) zine Disposable Underground.

* HISSING CHOIR - Myspace Page (with an interview and some more information)