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.

GODS & QUEENS - New EP streaming + lyrics posted

Jamie Getz has unfortunately been a part of my life for years, not only as a smartass friend, but also providing the soundtrack for many workdays. Robotic Empire's stupidly done two releases with him, the shortlived trainwreck known as VERSOMA and the somehow-functional mess known as GODS & QUEENS.

With too many personal changes going on and the label really busy as of late, GODS & QUEENS found another home for their latest recordings, fortunately in the hands of our Italian friends Sons of Vesta... who got duped into releasing G&Q's latest 5-song EP. I personally love this release, been addicted to it since hearing the rough mixes and want everyone to check out the record streaming in its entirety for free right here.

In a classic fashion (like last time), Jamie emailed me the lyrics for the release in one large sloppy mess of a paragraph. It was almost indecipherable, so I chopped it up by song the best I could. For documentation purposes, here they are:

5 years ago and i'm still left guessing what would have happened if i wasn't depressed, and would you still be obsessing about all the bad things you've done? i've heard all about the weight you can't lift. i've heard all about how you're getting thin. i still remember the first time we met, the alcoholism, and your drug addled mess. but before we go and cut this off again...

i'm sorry that your family died. you expected this would take some time. you can't get yourself out of bed with all these childhood thoughts stuck in your head. so, i don't wanna know how you're doing, and i don't wanna hear about how you've been. you didn't know that her heart keeps beating, because machines kept her breathing.
i just wanna know how you're doing, i just wanna hear about how you've been. are you scared, and sick of being told that "it's alright", and "it's ok".

pacing around the house, hoping to find something new. turned the heat on, turned the heat off, even double checked the phone. it's like everything is happening someplace else. up and down the same 5 steps... there's nothing new. doesn't everything sound great when you're falling apart?

you said "you caught me, and it's a bad time", well, when do you thinks the best time i can call you back?

did you know i was married once just for fun? or that i almost died once? it was from drugs. please stop trying to reach me, please just leave me alone. you've been talking for hours, on your own. please stop trying to reach me, please just leave me alone.

That's it. Buy the EP from Sons of Vesta, or buy GODS & QUEENS crap from us too. :)

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!

THE ULTIMATE WARRIORS - Discography (99 tracks!)

THE ULTIMATE WARRIORS. Love em or hate em, they had a pretty unique thing going: WRESTLING-THEMED HARDCORE. From the littleass town of Nazareth, Pennsylvania THE ULTIMATE WARRIORS sort of existed in a cocoon, and as a result were pretty prolific, releasing around a dozen records over their existence. From their humble beginnings as a sloppy youth-crew hardcore sounding band, to eventually becoming a fierce grindcore / powerviolence outfit, THE ULTIMATE WARRIORS only got better with age.

We released two split 7"s with these guys (w/ DAYBREAK and w/ KUNGFU RICK) and were supposed to release this massive collection as a discography CD release probably 5 (?) years ago... but general lazyness on both the band & label's part sort of fizzled out the project. The idea recently came up to throw it all up on iTunes as a legit digital download (much like the $11.99, 72-track ENEMY SOIL discography), but figuring out the correct track listing (even with the help of the band) was pretty daunting so... here it is for free instead:

* download THE ULTIMATE WARRIORS - Discography (via MediaFire)
* download THE ULTIMATE WARRIORS - Discography (via RapidShare)
* download THE ULTIMATE WARRIORS - Discography (via SendSpace)

Its worth mentioning that about 20 of the 99 tracks here don't have song titles, and some that do just might not be correct. This may also not be 100% complete, but its probably as close as anyone's gonna get. Sorting all this out was really confusing, but hey, it's free so what can ya do? We received a substantial "discography" CD-R (with a dick drawn on it) direct from the band years and years ago, so most (if not all) of this stuff is the highest fidelity that anyone has heard yet. No more crappy 7" rips, this is straight from the source! We also compiled our label's split 7" tracks from the masters with a rip of the demo too... so I *think* this is everything.

Notorious for outlandish and/or dangerous live shows, some members of the UWs eventually went on to play in THE GATECRASHERS, PEARLS AND BRASS, TORCHBEARER and 3/4ths of them now play in PISSED JEANS. More notably perhaps, a couple guys who did time in the band also turned into semi-pro wrestlers, thus cementing the fact that their whole "gimmick" wasn't fake. A pretty awesome bio/breakdown of the band can be read here and info on the bulk of their vinyl discography can be read here.

As of posting this too, White Denim (the killer label run by UW/PISSED JEANS frontman Matt K.) currently has some copies of THE ULTIMATE WARRIORS' fantastic Our Gimmick Is Wrestling 12" along with THE GATE CRASHERS split 7". Definitely worth checking out here while you can, as both have been out of print for a while now. From time to time the Robotic Empire - Online Store is able to stock THE ULTIMATE WARRIORS and/or related stuff, so it's worth checking out that link as well.

Last and least, the first time I got to hang out with these guys they played an awesome show in Baltimore with DAYBREAK and KUNG FU RICK... some crappy footage of that was shot and one 22-second video clip got digitized, all in the late-90's sometime. I haven't seen any other video footage of these guys online so, if you've got some please post it in the "comments" section and I'll add it to the ol' blog here.



A couple of songs from DAYBREAK and one from KUNGFU RICK from the same show can also be viewed here. Alright that's it, enjoy!

ACROSS TUNDRAS joins the label, "Herds of the Fathomless Valleys" available for free download!

UPDATE: We are not working with the band anymore, but enjoy this free album anyway!


Double whammy: we've teamed up with a new band AND posted their latest release in its entirety for free download! Nashville, Tennessee (by way of Denver, Colorado) is home to ACROSS TUNDRAS and we're very excited to be working with them on their next album, Old World Wanderer (read more here). To give you a rough idea of what you're in store for, we've posted Herds of the Fathomless Valleys an ACROSS TUNDRAS CD-R that they self-released earlier this year.

Comprised of a couple demos of songs slated for Old World Wanderer , one PINK FLOYD cover, some exclusive material and three old classics recorded live at their first and only appearance on the Grand Ol' Opry (prior to being banned for refusing to "turn the hell down")! These DIY recordings paint a raw but accurate picture of the vibe ACROSS TUNDRAS conveys, and are now available for free download here:

* download ACROSS TUNDRAS - Herds of the Fathomless Valleys (via MediaFire)
* download ACROSS TUNDRAS - Herds of the Fathomless Valleys (via RapidShare)
* download ACROSS TUNDRAS - Herds of the Fathomless Valleys (via SendSpace)

TRACK LISTING:
1. Weary Travelers Rest
2. Tectonic Shifts
3. Death Dealing Man
4. Badlands Blues (Live @ Grand Ol' Opry) - original found on Western Sky Ride
5. Cold Ride
6. Julia Dream (PINK FLOYD cover)
7. Blackbird Bloodred Sky (Live @ Grand Ol' Opry) - original found on Lonesome Wails from the Weeping Willow
8. Old Blind John's Song
9. Lake Bottom Blues
10. Ramblin' In The Shadows (Live @ Grand Ol' Opry) - original found on Dark Songs of the Prairie

We have a handful of copies of this limited release (and some other ACROSS TUNDRAS catalog titles) available in our Online Store. These releases can also be purchased direct from the band.

UPDATE: We are not working with the band anymore, but enjoy this free album anyway!

Brief update and THE ABANDONED HEARTS CLUB - Discography (re-post)

It's been an absolutely insane year, so that’s why there hasn't been much for posts here. I hope to remedy this in the future, which may result in shorter (less descriptive) posts since I still have a ton of weird archived stuff, but just no time to really write about it all as extensively as I'd like to.


Fortunately somebody else has scratched one off the ol' checklist for me and posted the entire THE ABANDONED HEARTS CLUB discography. I could say a lot about this (mostly good things, a couple bad) but Alex over at How Can They Intend To Heal kinda spelled out pretty well. The entire THE ABANDONED HEARTS CLUB recorded discography can be found in his lengthy post about the band. This blog is pretty thorough too, with a bunch of other rad and/or obscure Canadian hardcore/etc (do yourself a solid and check out ACRID).

THE ABANDONED HEARTS CLUB was cool to work with despite not knowing them terribly well. Definitely an underrated band that had a lot of potential to create something truly great, but kinda dissolved before the fabled full-length ever made fruition. RIYL: THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, SPREAD THE DISEASE, BOTCH, other good/obscure "old man mathcore".

p.s. their The Initial Confessions Of... 7" and Mutation CD comp are both available for pretty cheap here. Init also has the CDep version of The Initial Confessions Of... for like 2 bucks, so if you dig this stuff please support that over here.

01/24/10 UPDATE: posted two more "lost" tracks of theirs! posted separately, read/download here.

Underground Richmond Metal

Richmond's had a rich history as an amazing host for metal music long before my move here. Household names like GWAR, MUNICIPAL WASTE, LAMB OF GOD, DARKEST HOUR and more have been going for many years now, and there's no sign of things slowing down. The Richmond underground however, is also overflowing with incredible bands that just don't have quite as much exposure.

The main point of this particular blog post is to attract a bit more attention to a few of the current high-caliber metal bands who are playing live just off of demos. I honestly feel privileged to get to see bands with this level of intensity perform live on a regular basis. There are a ton of DIY/underground bands going, but I'm just highlighting a few with this post that I'm particularly fond of... and who are unabashedly METAL. Without further blubbering about how much I love this town, here are the bands:


INTER ARMA has been together for a few years but really turned things up a notch within the last year or so. I distinctly remember one house show they played where I thought to myself "damn, these guys got GOOD" and I've been a devotee ever since. They're hard to beat live, with an octopus/caveman/human-hybrid for a drummer and four other outstanding musicians on board. What's best about INTER ARMA is their ability to play almost any style of metal and do it justice.

There are a lot of bands that blend genres and it can get so undefined that it's almost too much. INTER ARMA do the genres justice by marrying doom, grindcore, punk, technical, black and death metal all with ease. They tastefully don't try to cram TOO much into one song though, and refreshingly switch it up amongst tracks.

This demo that I'm posting is already over a year old in recording, and was partially intended for an ill-fated split with CELEBRITY MURDERS. The newer material they're writing blows this stuff out of the water... but I still wanted to post the one demo I have of theirs as they're probably my favorite local band playing right now.

* download INTER ARMA - 2008 Demo (via MediaFire)
* download INTER ARMA - 2008 Demo (via RapidShare)
* visit INTER ARMA on myspace (and buy a t-shirt!)

Plus a couple of recent videos shot on November 30, 2008:

"The Calm Before The Shitstorm": external link to video (then click the "high quality" link)

Untitled (newer song, played abnormally fast): external link to video (then click the "high quality" link)

PERSONNEL ON THIS RECORDING:
* Mike - vocals
* Joe - guitar
* Shredder Steve - guitar
* Tommy - bass
* TJ - drums


Another band that abruptly shifted from "decent" to "gnarly" is BATTLEMASTER. They had a somewhat hit-and-miss demo called Cosmic Neutrality that showed they had potential, but weren't quite living up to it yet. Their next recording, Warthirsting & Winterbound completely blew me away and became one of my favorite metal albums of 2007. An insanely fast assault of blackened technical death metal!

Since then the band's had a bassist change, gone on a few tours and written a bunch of new jams. They're releasing a two-song 7" soon and have some killer new songs recorded for that, but what I've uploaded here is a post-Warthirsting demo that was originally intended for inclusion on the Best Friends Day comp. I believe this is the last recording bassist Leland Hoth appears on. Not exactly sure why this didn't make it on the BFD comp as it totally rips, and I don't think this version was even properly mastered. Regardless here it is for ya, the only unreleased (and fully completed) BATTLEMASTER track available:

* download BATTLEMASTER - "Ceremonial Dragon Mutilation" (via MediaFire)
* download BATTLEMASTER - "Ceremonial Dragon Mutilation" (via RapidShare)
* visit BATTLEMASTER on myspace (and buy a t-shirt!)

PERSONNEL ON THIS RECORDING:
* Andy Horn - vocals
* Alex Psitos - guitar
* Vic Anti - guitar
* Leiland Hoth - bass
* Alex Tomlin - drums

UPDATE: BATTLEMASTER's just posted the two tracks from their upcoming 7" release on their myspace page


"Coincidentally" named after a badass HAMMERS OF MISFORTUNE song, BASTARD SAPLING share a vocalist and guitarist from INTER ARMA but have a definitively more black metal style. Helmed by guitarist Drew and drummer Elway (formerly of C.R., MURDOCK and currently in CELEBRITY MURDERS), the same two dudes responsible for Richmond's awesome Heart Of Winter festival.

They have recently been joined by Pete from BATTLEMASTER on bass... although he doesn't perform on the demo below. This demo is only 2 songs that they released on an insanely limited CD-R for the Heart Of Winter fest, although I've heard that the whole thing is being re-mixed soon (possibly with bass?). If/when any of that happens I'll try to re-post it. Regardless, it's blistering and raw as fuck just like it should be.

* download BASTARD SAPLING - Raw Rehearsal Demo (via MediaFire)
* download BASTARD SAPLING - Raw Rehearsal Demo (via RapidShare)
* watch a song from BASTARD SAPLING's first live show (via YouTube)
* visit BASTARD SAPLING on myspace (and check out a newly re-mixed track that doesn't appear on the 2-song demo)

PERSONNEL ON THIS RECORDING:
* Mike - vocals
* Drew - guitar
* Shredder Steve - guitar
* Elway - drums


Although this demo sorta sounds the roughest of the bunch, NECKBRACE rules so much live that I figured I'd post this anyway. Formed by two of the BATTLEMASTER dudes and a few other local metalheads, these guys are jamming a black n' roll kind of thing, which completely shreds live. Hopefully they get a more substantial recording at some point.

* download NECKBRACE - Demo (via MediaFire)
* download NECKBRACE - Demo (via RapidShare)
* visit NECKBRACE on myspace

PERSONNEL ON THIS RECORDING:
* Alex Psitos - guitar/vocals
* Alex Tomlin - bass/vocals
* Frank Rourk - guitar/vocals
* Brandon Whittaker - drums


And last but not least, CANNABIS CORPSE is the band I'm utilizing to tie this all into the label, since Robotic Empire really hasn't worked with too many local metal bands. These weedian death metal disciples rose from the depths of the Oregon Hill neighborhood and recorded their first album Blunted At Birth in a house there. After Blunted At Birth got a surprisingly awesome amount of attention, CANNABIS CORPSE decided to up the ante a bit for followup Tube Of The Resinated, and recorded demos of the entire album themselves before eventually hitting a studio for a more "proper" recording.

I think the original demos turned out pretty damn sweet and the band probably could've gotten away with recording the whole thing themselves... but whatever, the finished album turned out awesome sounding in the end.

In the studio however, for whatever reason they only tracked 9 of the 10 songs that they had demoed out... and "Covered With Seeds" was left to collect resin. LandPhil and the dudes were chill enough to let us post this unreleased instrumental track here, and it's a ripper. I wish this demo had received vocal treatment, and Weedgrinder says it still might someday... but either way, the song is a total tech shredder. Here ya go:

* download CANNABIS CORPSE - "Covered With Seeds" (via MediaFire)
* download CANNABIS CORPSE - "Covered With Seeds" (via RapidShare)
* visit CANNABIS CORPSE on myspace

PERSONNEL ON THIS RECORDING:
* Weedgrinder - no vocals
* LandPhil - bass/guitar
* HallHammer - drums

Richmond Metal of Honorable Mention:
* Alabama Thunderpussy
* Antietam 1862
* Balaclava
* Birds Of Prey
* Cough
* Hail Hornet
* Human Smoke
* Jefferson Plane Crash
* Juice Tyme
* Lord By Fire
* Parasytic
* RPG
* Suzukiton
* War Graves

No disrespect intended to any bands I forgot or don't know about yet... I'm sure there's a bunch of other awesome metal bands coming up or existing that I simply don't know of. I also omitted the incredible plethora of punk & hardcore bands there are here, only because the lines have blurred between metal, punk and hardcore... and this post is solely focusing on overtly metal bands.

Richmond is definitely a hardcore haven at the moment too, and this town has an intense amount of creative energy flowing through it in general. At any given time there's probably bands starting up that will eventually be well known across the country, and I'm majorly thankful to get to witness some of them before the masses.

  * RICHMOND band's items in the Robotic Empire - Online Store (metal and otherwise)


MEDIA CREDITS:
* INTER ARMA photo by Tony Lynch
* INTER ARMA videos by Luna
* BATTLEMASTER photo by Joh Moreno
* BASTARD SAPLING photo by Marge
* NECKBRACE photo by unknown
* CANNABIS CORPSE photo by David Kenedy