Awesome FLOOR writeup from Chunklet with exclusive downloads...

"...a perfectly psychedelic My Bloody Valentine/Black Sabbath hybrid with 10 times the hooks... The mightily ambitious nutballs at Robotic Empire are doing what any label that just damns to the torpedoes would do in 2009: release a box set by Floor!"

Henry at Chunklet Magazine was awesome to write up a somewhat personal take on the FLOOR - Below & Beyond Box Set, and since he's been so good to us and our bands over the years we hooked him up with some exclusive downloads from this massive release.

* Check that out and two exclusive live sets here.
* Eight more FLOOR songs can be streamed at their myspace page.
* The Below & Beyond Box Set can be pre-ordered at the Robotic Empire - Online Store.

FLOOR - "Below & Beyond", less than 200 box sets left & a possible CD version...

We've now dipped below the 200 mark on remaining available FLOOR - Below & Beyond Box Sets, and its looking likely that a re-press isn't going to happen any time down the road. So this is it folks, get it while you can.

Related however, is the surprising demand for a CD-only version, so the band & label are now discussing possible options for that as it may see the light of day sooner or later. Details still need to be ironed out so nothing is 100% at this point, but it's nice to know there are still folks out there interested in buying CD sets (and not just waiting for it to leak online). Who knew? More info forthcoming on this soon.

Last but not least, the "status" website built for folks who order the box set is ready & an email with the link will be sent out to everyone who's already ordered within the next day or two. This will be updated semi-consistently through the manufacturing process in attempts to keep everyone who's ordered informed on how things are progressing, and may or may not eventually contain an exclusive "thank you" download or two... we'll see.

That's the latest, please consider checking this out if you're a fan of FLOOR, TORCHE and/or doomy, sludgey, catchy heavy music in general.

* ORDER @ ROBOTIC EMPIRE - ONLINE STORE
* PREVIEW 10 SONGS @ FLOOR'S MYSPACE PAGE

FLOOR - Below & Beyond BOX SET now available for PRE-ORDER!

It's pretty rare when a band comes along that creates something truly unique. Scarcer still are multiple standout recordings from the same group. Rarest of all is one who amasses a large body of work that varies greatly, yet consistently remains impressive.

Southern Florida's FLOOR were around for roughly 10 years and recorded well over a dozen times during their on-and-off existence. Nearly 100 tracks are the result of a decade of persistence amid overall underappreciation, and only in the wake of their demise did underground audio followers finally take note. Their huge body of work yielded only a few officially released records, and most of what the band recorded just collected dust in the vaults. Finally, everything ever laid down to tape by this truly ahead-of-their time(s) outfit has been compiled into one massive release.

From the living rooms and basements of 1992 to the studios of 2001/2002, FLOOR had an incredible evolution from the GODFLESH and early-MELVINS-inspired sludge worship, to the unrivaled sugary doom/pop amalgamation which would eventually pave the way for TORCHE, HOUSE OF LIGHTNING and others. The changes in sound from recording-to-recording means the sheer variation of style (and audio fidelity) witnessed throughout this collection is astounding, and when dating these recordings against what would eventually follow, it becomes crystal clear that FLOOR were consistently operating on that fabled "next level".

It is with great honor and elation that we are able to present the Below & Beyond Box Set to you. After many years in the making, FLOOR is finally able to conclude their existence with this extensive collection. Ten 12" LPs, one 7" EP, eight CDs and a (roughly) 32-page booklet of writings, photos, lyrics, artwork (and more) are all to be housed in separate jackets contained within a custom cloth-bound box. Each record comes on a different color of vinyl to match to the corresponding artwork, and two etchings accompany recordings that didn't have appropriate flipsides.


We are making 305 copies of this box set, and if the demand is there maybe more at a later date. It's hard to know what the response to this release is going to be, considering the band hasn't been active for over 5 years and had a varied fanbase during their actual existence... so 305 was the number chosen by the parties involved and we're offering up 275 copies to the public now.

That all being said, the price for the FLOOR - Below & Beyond Box Set is $250 plus postage. We know this is a huge amount of money, so as a way of thanking those who pre-order, an exclusive t-shirt is being included (that's design+style will only be available with this preorder). If you purchase the box set PLEASE remember to include your t-shirt size in the "notes / comments" section at checkout... this includes any size you may normally be, from Youth Small to Quintuple Extra Large.

PLEASE NOTE: An enormous amount of work has gone into this release, but not quite everything is fully ready to go into production. So THIS IS A PRE-ORDER, and we're *hoping* to have the release in your hands by Thanksgiving at the earliest, and Christmas at the latest. Because those purchasing this box set are spending a lot of money, we have built a website with the sole purpose of keeping people who buy this informed on the status of the production. Some details of the project may slightly change as we approach the final artwork adjustments, so please realize the above image is simply a mockup of what the final product will roughly resemble (also feel free to click here to check out a bigger version of the above graphic).

Normally we do not like to take pre-orders for records because people (understandably) get impatient and often want to know what the status of the release is... and there are always the inevitable delays too. But due to the sheer cost of producing this beast, we have decided to break our "no pre-orders" rule on this rare occasion. We will do our best to get this done and in your hands as quickly as possible, but highly appreciate your patience and understanding that producing something this large can happen somewhat slowly. The "status" website link will be emailed to you if you place an order, so you can follow along as this beast gets closer and closer to full existence.

SHIPPING & PAYMENT DETAILS: Because this is such an expensive item, we MUST ship this to a confirmed address (the same one associated with your PayPal or credit card account), and only via a shipping method that is trackable with a signature confirmation. That means ALL people in the USA must order this via UPS GROUND and be able to sign for the package. It is a bit more expensive and possibly a pain in the ass, but it is also more secure for both the buyer and seller. If you cannot deal with this, please do not order (or find a friend who can comply with this to order for you).

ALL INTERNATIONAL ORDERERS: please choose USPS Priority Mail or any UPS shipping method & make sure your shipping address matches the address on your PayPal or credit card account. Please include your full telephone number in the "notes / comments" section as well. Also, we can NOT put a lower value on the customs forms, so please don't order if you can't pay any local taxes there may be on an incoming $250 US item.

And last but not least, if you order other items along with this box set they will NOT ship until the box sets are finished. If you want other items in the immediate future, please place a separate order for those & we will get them out to you ASAP.

A major personal thank-you is due to Anthony, Steve and Henry for braving everything that went into this, and for trusting us to finally do the band justice with this massive release. An additional thank you to everyone else who contributed as well (be it artwork, musicianship, moral support or otherwise), and to you for still being interested after all these years. Namasté!

* ORDER @ OUR ONLINE STORE
* PREVIEW 10 SONGS @ FLOOR'S MYSPACE PAGE

Obviously that is the biggest Robotic Empire news for this week (and possibly the whole year), but we've also got a small amount of new Online Store stuff for this update as well. Here's the skinny on what we've received over the past two weeks:

NEW ITEMS:
* As Hope Dies - Legions Bow To A Faceless God - CLEAR W/ RED SPLATTER COLORED VINYL 12" (Forest Moon) $9.99
* Buckshot Facelift - Anchors of the Armless Gods - 1-Sided DARK GREEN COLORED VINYL 12" (Self Released) $10.99
* Crom - The Cocaine Wars - ORANGE COLORED VINYL 12" (Forest Moon) $13.99
* Dead Hearts - Live at CBGB's - COLORED VINYL 7" (State of Mind) $4.99
* Depise You - Westside Horizons - PURPLE COLORED VINYL 12" (Forest Moon) $14.99
* Envy / Thursday - Split Cassette (Academy Fight Song) $6.99
* Fall Of Efrafa - Inle 2x12" (Halo Of Flies) $18.99
* Flood, The - Self-Titled 10" (These Family Jams) $8.99
* Floor - Below & Beyond BOX SET (Robotic Empire) PRE-ORDER $249.99
* Funeral Pyre, The / Landmine Marathon - Split 7" (Forest Moon) $5.50
* Funeral Pyre, The / Leech - Split - PINK AND GREY COLORED VINYL 7" (Forest Moon) $4.99
* Government Warning - Executed 7" (Grave Mistake) $4.99
* Government Warning - Paranoid Mess 12" (Grave Mistake) $9.99
* Graves At Sea - Documents Of Greif - PICTURE DISC VINYL 12" (Kreation) $10.99
* Overmars - Born Again CD (Crucial Blast) $7.99
* Scott Hull - Requeim - BEER CREAM COLORED VINYL 12" (Kreation) $9.99
* Snowblood - Self-Titled CD (Super Fi) $7.99
* Subarachnoid Space - Eight Bells CD (Crucial Blast) $7.99
* Thank God / Deepslauter - Split - 1-SIDED VINYL 12" (These Family Jams) $8.99
* This is Hell - Self-Titled - 1-SIDED VINYL 12" (State of Mind) $9.99
* Trifle Tower / Steeples - Split 7" (These Family Jams) $4.99
* Valkyrie - Man Of Two Visions - CLEAR GOLD BLEND COLORED VINYL 12" (Kreation) $9.99
* Wasted Time - Futility 12" (Grave Mistake) $9.99

RESTOCKS:
* A Day In Black And White / Black Castle - Split CD (State of Mind) $8.99
* Across Tundras - Dark Songs Of The Prairie CD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* Atavist / Nadja - 12012291920 / 1414101 - COKE BOTTLE GREEN AND WHITE COLORED VINYL 12" (Kreation) $13.99
* Black Elk - Always A Six, Never A Nine CD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* Black Elk - Self-Titled CD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* Drowning With Our Anchors - Breathing Lessons 7" (Commodity Fetish) $4.99
* Genghis Tron - Cloak of Love CDep (Crucial Blast) $6.99
* Ghostlimb - Self-Titled CDep (Commodity Fetish) $6.99
* Glissade - Further - BLUE COLORED VINYL 2x12"+CD (Deep Space) $16.99
* Gnaw Their Tongues - An Epiphanic Vomiting Of Blood CD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* LSD And The Search For God - Self-Titled - YELLOW COLORED VINYL 12" (Deep Space) $10.99
* Nachtmystium - Demise - PURPLE SILVER COLORED VINYL 12" (Kreation) $13.99
* Protestant - The Hate. The Hollow - RED BLACK SWIRL COLORED VINYL 12" (Halo Of Flies) $11.99
* Sea Of Bones - The Harvest CD (Doornail) $7.99
* Skullflower - IIIrd Gatekeeper CD (Crucial Blast) $8.99
* Skullflower - Tribulation CD (Crucial Blast) $8.99
* Trees - Lights Bane CD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* Us, Haunted Bodies - Self-Titled 7" (Communique) $4.99
* Weedeater - Sixteen Tons CD (Crucial Blast) $7.99
* Wildildlife - Six CD (Crucial Blast) $7.99
* Yob - Catharsis 12" (Kreation) $13.99

ITEMS NEWLY ON SALE: something from every letter of the alphabet (that we carry)
* A Silver Mt. Zion - This Is Our Punk Rock CD (Constellation) $11.25
* Atavist / Nadja - 12012291920 / 1414101 - COKE BOTTLE GREEN AND WHITE COLORED VINYL 12" (Kreation) $13.99
* Avenging Disco Godfathers Of Soul, The - This Is The Invasion 12" (Insolito) $5.49
* Bible Of The Devil - The Diabolic Procession CD (Cruz Del Sur) $6.99
* Black Boned Angel / Nadja - Christ Send Light 12" (Sound Devastation) $15.99
* Black Pyramid - Self-Titled CD (Meteor City) $7.99
* Black Widow - Night Of The Raven CD (Heathen Skulls) $7.99
* Cable - Never Trust A Gemini CD (This Dark Reign) $7.99
* Cable - Skyhorse Jams CD (This Dark Reign) $7.99
* Cephalic Carnage - Anomalies CD (Relapse) $5.99
* Coffins / The Arm And Sword Of A Bastard God - Split CD (20 Buck Spin) $7.99
* Daybreak / Godstomper - Split 12" (At A Loss) $8.69
* Descolada - Self-Titled CD (Gasping For Breath) $5.99
* Dreamed Yellow Swans - Self-Titled CD (Deleted Art) $5.99
* Elder - Self-Titled 12" (Electric Earth) $20.99
* Enablers - Tundra CD (Exile On Mainstream) $11.99
* Flood - Native CD (Meteor City) $7.99
* Gregor Samsa - 27:36 + 2Dot 12" (Riptide) $13.99
* Hummingbird of Death - Show Us The Meaning Of Haste CD (To Live A Lie) $7.99
* Iscariote - Necropole Trauma CD (Oto) $8.99
* Javelina - Self-Titled - 180 GRAM VINYL 12" (Triumph Of Death) $17.99
* Karp - Mustaches Wild CD (K) $9.99
* Lymbyc Systym - Carved By Glaciers CD (Magic Bullet) $6.69
* Maladie - Self-Titled CD (Nuestra Lengua) $6.69
* Meet Me In St. Louis - Variations On Swing - CLEAR BLACK SPLATTER COLORED VINYL 12" (Denovali) $11.99
* Nachtmystium - Demise - PURPLE SILVER COLORED VINYL 12" (Kreation) $13.99
* Nadja - Clinging To The Edge Of The Ocean 12" (Vendetta) $13.99
* Nine Shocks Terror - Zen and the Art of Beating Your Ass CD (Havoc) $5.99
* Oxbow - The Narcotic Story - RED COLORED VINYL 12" (Black Diamond) $10.69
* Phoenix Bodies - Raise The Bullsh!t Flag CD (Happy Couples) $5.49
* Satyricon / Enslaved - Split CD (The End) $7.99
* Satyricon - Nemesis Divina CD (The End) $7.99
* Satyricon - Now Diabolical CD (Century Media) $7.99
* They And The Children - Thoughts on Becoming a Ghost CD (Tor Johnson) $5.99
* Torche - Meanderthal - CHERRY BURST COLORED VINYL 12" (Robotic Empire) $17.99
* Tournament - Swordswallower CD (Trip Machine) $4.99
* Tusk - The Resisting Dreamer - BLACK VINYL 12" (Tortuga) $9.99
* Various Artists - Empower: Exercising The Human Spirit CD (Underadar) $2.99
* Winters In Osaka - Molded To Crawl CD (Haunted Hotel) $7.99
* Xiu Xiu - Live CD (Nail In The Coffin) $6.69
* Yob - Catharsis 12" (Kreation) $13.99
* Zann - Three Years In The Desert CD (Vendetta) $8.99

This would probably be a good time to include a reminder that if you want to order the FLOOR box set AND other stuff from our site, please place separate orders if you want to get the non-FLOOR items before the pre-order ships... which may take a while.

Again, we will email everyone who orders the FLOOR - Below & Beyond Box Set a link in the coming days that will head to a "status page" of sorts on the progress of this behemoth of a release. This will be updated as the production continues, and should be a decent way of keeping everyone who orders in-the-loop.

Thank you for taking the time to read all of this, and thank you in advance to anyone who plans on pre-ordering the FLOOR box set... we highly appreciate it! Peace,

Robotic Empire - Online Store

OTHER CRAP:
Robotic Empire's Twitter
Robotic Empire on Myspace
Robotic Empire on Facebook
Robotic Empire's email list
Robotic Empire's news blog/archive
Robotic Obscurities free audio archive
Robotic Empire's cruddy youtube channel
Robotic Empire Wholesale (distro stuff too!)
Robotic Empire's main website

ROBOTIC EMPIRE - massive Online Store sales & GIVEAWAYS!! (150+ items 10-50% off)

This week's Robotic Empire - Online Store update mostly revolves around making some room for the forthcoming FLOOR box set! Over 40 more 12"s and CDs have been deeply discounted (10-50%) from bands of every letter of the alphabet! (except Q... don't have any Q bands in stock right now and maybe never have). These also join the nearly 130 items already on sale, which can all be found in the current specials section of our site.

Also back by popular demand is our buy-1-get-1-free CD offer. We're giving away one Robotic Empire label-release CD of your choice for each CD you buy in our Online Store of an equal value. This offer is running until the end of the month & more info can be found on our site.

In addition to that, we're also trying something new where any vinyl purchases totaling $50 or more are entitled to a free Robotic Empire label-release 12" of your choice from the following bands: CANNABIS CORPSE, GHASTLY CITY SLEEP, HELMS ALEE, PAGENINETYNINE, PYGMY LUSH, RIDDLE OF STEEL, ULTRA DOLPHINS, VERSOMA or WINDMILLS BY THE OCEAN. We get to pick the vinyl color, but you get to pick which band you want a FREE 12" by if you buy over $50 worth of vinyl. This will only run until the FLOOR box set goes up for pre-order, so this will (hopefully) be a pretty brief offer!

Beyond that blitzkrieg of discounted items & giveaways, we've also gotten some substantial restocks & new stuff in this week as well. Killer packages from Crucial Blast, Grave Mistake and Kreation create the bulk of this week's additions; here they are:

NEW ITEMS:
* Buckshot Facelift - Anchors of the Armless Gods - 1-Sided DARK GREEN COLORED VINYL 12" (Self Released) $10.99
* Government Warning - Executed 7" (Grave Mistake) $4.99
* Government Warning - Paranoid Mess 12" (Grave Mistake) $9.99
* Graves At Sea - Documents Of Greif - PICTURE DISC VINYL 12" (Kreation) $10.99
* Overmars - Born Again CD (Crucial Blast) $7.99
* Scott Hull - Requeim - BEER CREAM COLORED VINYL 12" (Kreation) $9.99
* Subarachnoid Space - Eight Bells CD (Crucial Blast) $7.99
* Valkyrie - Man Of Two Visions - CLEAR GOLD BLEND COLORED VINYL 12" (Kreation) $9.99
* Wasted Time - Futility 12" (Grave Mistake) $9.99

RESTOCKS:
* Across Tundras - Dark Songs Of The Prairie CD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* Atavist / Nadja - 12012291920 / 1414101 - COKE BOTTLE GREEN AND WHITE COLORED VINYL 12" (Kreation) $13.99
* Black Elk - Always A Six, Never A Nine CD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* Black Elk - Self-Titled CD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* Drowning With Our Anchors - Breathing Lessons 7" (Commodity Fetish) $4.99
* Genghis Tron - Cloak of Love CDep (Crucial Blast) $6.99
* Ghostlimb - Self-Titled CDep (Commodity Fetish) $6.99
* Glissade - Further - BLUE COLORED VINYL 2x12"+CD (Deep Space) $16.99
* Gnaw Their Tongues - An Epiphanic Vomiting Of Blood CD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* LSD And The Search For God - Self-Titled - YELLOW COLORED VINYL 12" (Deep Space) $10.99
* Nachtmystium - Demise - PURPLE SILVER COLORED VINYL 12" (Kreation) $13.99
* Sea Of Bones - The Harvest CD (Doornail) $7.99
* Skullflower - IIIrd Gatekeeper CD (Crucial Blast) $8.99
* Skullflower - Tribulation CD (Crucial Blast) $8.99
* Trees - Lights Bane CD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* Weedeater - Sixteen Tons CD (Crucial Blast) $7.99
* Wildildlife - Six CD (Crucial Blast) $7.99
* Yob - Catharsis 12" (Kreation) $13.99

ITEMS NEWLY ON SALE:
* A Silver Mt. Zion - This Is Our Punk Rock CD (Constellation) $11.25
* Atavist / Nadja - 12012291920 / 1414101 - COKE BOTTLE GREEN AND WHITE COLORED VINYL 12" (Kreation) $13.99
* Avenging Disco Godfathers Of Soul, The - This Is The Invasion 12" (Insolito) $5.49
* Bible Of The Devil - The Diabolic Procession CD (Cruz Del Sur) $6.99
* Black Boned Angel / Nadja - Christ Send Light 12" (Sound Devastation) $15.99
* Black Pyramid - Self-Titled CD (Meteor City) $7.99
* Black Widow - Night Of The Raven CD (Heathen Skulls) $7.99
* Cable - Never Trust A Gemini CD (This Dark Reign) $7.99
* Cable - Skyhorse Jams CD (This Dark Reign) $7.99
* Cephalic Carnage - Anomalies CD (Relapse) $5.99
* Coffins / The Arm And Sword Of A Bastard God - Split CD (20 Buck Spin) $7.99
* Daybreak / Godstomper - Split 12" (At A Loss) $8.69
* Descolada - Self-Titled CD (Gasping For Breath) $5.99
* Dreamed Yellow Swans - Self-Titled CD (Deleted Art) $5.99
* Elder - Self-Titled 12" (Electric Earth) $20.99
* Enablers - Tundra CD (Exile On Mainstream) $11.99
* Flood - Native CD (Meteor City) $7.99
* Gregor Samsa - 27:36 + 2Dot 12" (Riptide) $13.99
* Hummingbird of Death - Show Us The Meaning Of Haste CD (To Live A Lie) $7.99
* Iscariote - Necropole Trauma CD (Oto) $8.99
* Javelina - Self-Titled - 180 GRAM VINYL 12" (Triumph Of Death) $17.99
* Karp - Mustaches Wild CD (K) $9.99
* Lymbyc Systym - Carved By Glaciers CD (Magic Bullet) $6.69
* Maladie - Self-Titled CD (Nuestra Lengua) $6.69
* Meet Me In St. Louis - Variations On Swing - CLEAR BLACK SPLATTER COLORED VINYL 12" (Denovali) $11.99
* Nachtmystium - Demise - PURPLE SILVER COLORED VINYL 12" (Kreation) $13.99
* Nadja - Clinging To The Edge Of The Ocean 12" (Vendetta) $13.99
* Nine Shocks Terror - Zen and the Art of Beating Your Ass CD (Havoc) $5.99
* Oxbow - The Narcotic Story - RED COLORED VINYL 12" (Black Diamond) $10.69
* Phoenix Bodies - Raise The Bullshit Flag CD (Happy Couples) $5.49
* Satyricon / Enslaved - Split CD (The End) $7.99
* Satyricon - Nemesis Divina CD (The End) $7.99
* Satyricon - Now Diabolical CD (Century Media) $7.99
* They And The Children - Thoughts on Becoming a Ghost CD (Tor Johnson) $5.99
* Torche - Meanderthal - CHERRY BURST COLORED VINYL 12" (Robotic Empire) $17.99
* Tournament - Swordswallower CD (Trip Machine) $4.99
* Tusk - The Resisting Dreamer - BLACK VINYL 12" (Tortuga) $9.99
* Various Artists - Empower: Exercising The Human Spirit CD (Underadar) $2.99
* Winters In Osaka - Molded To Crawl CD (Haunted Hotel) $7.99
* Xiu Xiu - Live CD (Nail In The Coffin) $6.69
* Yob - Catharsis 12" (Kreation) $13.99
* Zann - Three Years In The Desert CD (Vendetta) $8.99

There you go, that's the update for this week. For everyone waiting for the FLOOR pre-order to go up on our site, we're *hoping* to have it online by the end of the week... but that all depends on if some artwork stuff gets sorted in time or not. Either way, the pre-orders for this monster 10xLP, 1x7" and 8xCD box set are on the very-near horizon. Start saving your lunch money, cause this beast is going to be a big one.

Thanks / peace!
Robotic Empire - Online Store

OTHER CRAP:
Robotic Empire's Twitter
Robotic Empire on Myspace
Robotic Empire on Facebook
Robotic Empire's email list
Robotic Empire's news blog/archive
Robotic Obscurities free audio archive
Robotic Empire's youtube channel
Robotic Empire Wholesale
Robotic Empire's main website

"punishing heavy riffage" (aka, more DIAL press content & band update!)

"Tali Williams scorched-earth vocals - grips you by the collar and shakes... a math-rock dirge with punishing heavy riffage."

Yet another posi DIAL review (read the whole thing here). This New Zealand outfit's near-unanimous praise amongst audio-heathens only fuels the excitement about what they're cooking up next. Quote the band themselves:

"In terms of playing - we were always a band that cared more about getting material together we were happy with than maintaining a live presence. This coupled with no solid practice space, wanting to learn how to record our own material and refreshing and re-formatting to a non-rock format that doesn't require a drummer (and all the upskilling that requires while being very busy people) has meant that it has taken a while, yes, but we are all stronger musicians because of it and the depth of the music has increased as a result. We are hoping for a return towards the end of the year and another release shortly after."

There you have it, DIAL is definitely working on more material, and we can't wait to hear what they've got in store! In the meantime, please consider picking up their debut EP in our Online Store. Its only 5 bucks and has been getting glowing reviews galore (click here for proof). Still haven't heard them? Two tracks from the EP are streamable here. Thanks.

UPDATE 09/11/09:
Just found another killer review, this time a somewhat profane one from our old brethren of Crucial Blast...

"Not to be confused with the avant-rock band Dial that arose from the ashes of Jacqui Ham's influential no-wave group UT, this Dial is from New Zealand and carries a way bigger stick, weilding their grinding, midpaced metallic noise rock like a studded club smashing through skulls and pulping brains and leaving me altogether kinda winded after this disc's nineteen minutes are up. Damn! These guys first released this five song EP as a demo a while back, but it's now reissued on disc for the rest of the world thanks to those fine folks at Robotic Empire. Dig Am Rep? Drool over the neo-pigfuck/noise rock sound of bands like Hex Machine and Black Elk and the like as hard as I do? Well then, yer going to fucking LOVE THIS. Each one of these jams takes some old school hardcore riffage and pares it down to a ultra-distorted, hypnotic block of super-distorted punishment and proceeds to bulldoze yer face with it for a good three-to-five minutes. The drumming is so goddamn heavy it shakes the speakers, a massive, bludgeoning industrial Swans-style grind, the drummer hammering the skins in controlled slow motion precision, while vocalist Natalia Williams goes completely nuts, her high pitched snarl sounding like she's ready to slit your fucking throat and leave you to drain out in the gutter, you motherfucker, while angular crush and darkly poetic lyrics rain down and the onward machine pound of Dial's music just hammers you deeper into the filth. One of the most ferocious debuts I've heard, like some hyperheavy fusion of Rusted Shut and Unsane and Filth-era Swans, which means ultra recommended."

Cool!

ROBOTIC EMPIRE - Online Store updates: tons of grind, screamo, doom, hardcore & more!

This week's Robotic Empire - Online Store update is dominated by a near-overload of grind & screamo restocks from across the board, plus a few new items. We also put the (classic?) Blackmetal Sabbath Robotic Empire sweatpants & hoodies on sale. The first cold weather is bout creepin its ugly head, so it’s a good time to stock up on some inexpensive warm threads for the fall. Plus, we've gotta make room for the forthcoming FLOOR box set, as we're now just a couple weeks away from starting pre-orders for that beast.

Some notable things we got in this week are the new self-released ACROSS TUNDRAS CD-R that includes a few demos for their next album, ORCHID and YAPHET KOTTO skramz galore on both vinyl and CD, loads of fury from Fashionable Idiots, the always-rad Gilead Media restocks, another sweet YACÖPSAE split 5" and the tons of classic stuff we re-stocked from a big wholesale order with Ebullition. Speaking of wholesale, if you run a distro/online store/whatever and want to pick up ANYTHING in our site at wholesale rates, please just get in touch! Enough yadda yadda, here's the full list:

NEW ITEMS:
* Acrid - Sea Of Sh!t - RED COLORED VINYL 12" (No Idea) $9.99
* Across Tundras - Herds of the Fathomless Valleys CD-R (Self Released) $5.99
* Condominium - Barricade 7" (Fashionable Idiots) $4.99
* Del Cielo - Wish And Wait 12" (Golden Brown) $9.99
* Drunkdriver - Firesale 7" (Fashionable Idiots) $4.99
* Herds - Self-Titled 12" (Fashionable Idiots) $10.99
* Nekrasov - The Form Of Thought From Beast 12" (Seige Of Power) $10.99
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"these howling, swampy takes are full of powerful material" (aka, BAD SECRETS press love)

Well we slacked pretty bad and didn't really do any press mailings or anything for the BAD SECRETS debut, but still a handful of quotable things have surfaced for this wacky release:


Rock Sound mazagine was cool enough to run that innuendo-infused preview of the 9"+CD, and give some additional love to our Richmond label brethren in MolSook and The Perpetual Motion Machine. Not too shabby! Onwards...

"Similar to the work Evan has been churning out with Young Widows, but with a much more stripped down approach. Using only drums, guitars and vocals, the duo blends elements of drone, country, shoegaze and post-punk/hardcore on this record and recorded the whole thing on a four track cassette, which adds to the lo-fi aesthetic elements of this record."

The MP3 blog Powered By Seitan posted a full download of the album (not too cool) but at least they took it down when we asked (cool). In the midst came the above quote, and a little more. Click here to read the rest of it. Lastly...

"At times the band sound like a more metal-influenced slant on what Nick Cave, or perhaps even Tom Waits might get up to in their rowdiest moments, and far from sounding like a lo-fi dirge, these howling, swampy takes are full of powerful material - with pummeling rock & roll blood and thunder..."

That bit came from the cool UK-based Boomkat online record/MP3 store. They had a bit more to say (and also have the release legitimately available for high-quality download), which you can check out by clicking here.

That's all we've unearthed for now, but still pretty cool regardless. If you haven't heard BAD SECRETS yet, we posted the first song off the record on our Myspace page. We're really pumped with how this 9"+CD debut release turned out and if you like what you see/hear, we encourage you to check it out in our Online Store. Thanks!