BLACK TUSK limited tour-only 12"!! Signed n' numbered Baizley artwork, ltd to 350... heads up!

Hot on the heels of the EMPLOYER, EMPLOYEE discography LP release (more info here if you missed it), we've got another very limited and deluxe LP exclusively available in the Robotic Empire - Online Store. This time is the (otherwise) tour-only edition of BLACK TUSK's debut album Passage Through Purgatory, released by our longtime Savannah brethren at Hyperrealist.

This beast of an album was dropped on unprepared souls a few years back, and with the first press long sold out Hyperrealist was wise enough to make another small batch for a recent tour. However, only 350 copies were made in total, and much of those went to the band themselves. We are the only mailorder spot to get this, and with a finely silk screened multi-color John Dyer Baizley jacket, we don't expect them to last too long.

Even so, we still want to apologize for the high price tag on this one, but apparently it cost a small fortune to press and print. We got 150 copies of the 350 made, and the price is $29.99. This also comes on a beautiful teal colored vinyl, and hand-signed n' numbered by our old dawg John Baizley himself.

This is truly a beautiful release though and worth every penny, with brutal jams to boot. BLACK TUSK have recently released their followup album on Relapse Records and have been road warriors for years. Their southern sludge stomp isn't easily matched, and its not surprising they're often uttered in the same breath as their fellow Georgian peers BARONESS, KYLESA and MASTODON. For those unfamiliar, you can preview their burly tunes here.

The special tour edition of Passage Through Purgatory is available now in the Robotic Empire - Online Store.


Its also worth reiterating the latest Robotic Empire label release, one an insanely long time in the making. EMPLOYER, EMPLOYEE were a crushing (and very ahead-of-their-time) band outta Austin, Texas and we just released their full discography LP. A whole lot of info on that can be found here and the release itself (and/or a silkscreen print) is now available exclusively through us, here.

Besides those two elaborate LP releases, we've gotten in another gnarly batch of items for the Robotic Empire - Online Store. Not exactly a ton of stuff, but almost all heavy hitters. Here ya go:

NEW ITEMS:
* Accept Death - Self-Titled 12" (Hydrophonic) $14.99
* Black Tusk - Passage Through Purgatory - TOUR EDITION, TEAL COLORED VINYL 12" (Hyperrealist) $29.99
* Fight Amp / Ladder Devils / Kowloon Walled City - Lose, Lose, Lose 12" (Brutal Panda) $13.99
* Loose Lips Sink Ships - Self-Titled - GREEN COLORED VINYL 7"+CD (Whaleplane) $4.99
* Makai, The - Embracing The Shroud Of A Blackened Sky 12" (Halo Of Flies) $9.99
* Masakari - The Profit Feeds 12" (Halo Of Flies) $9.99
* Ramesses - Baptism Of The Walking Dead - BLACK VINYL 12" (Hydrophonic) $18.99
* Ramesses - Baptism Of The Walking Dead - CLEAR COLORED VINYL 12" (Hydrophonic) $24.99
* Ravens Creed / Sollubi - Split 7" (Hydrophonic) $5.99
* Stone Axe - Extended Play - SKY BLUE COLORED VINYL 10" (Hydrophonic) $17.99
* XXX Maniak - Gorebortion - GOLD BLACK COLORED VINYL 12" (Hydrophonic) $13.99

RESTOCKS:
* Daitro - Cendresdes Cendres, Je Me Consume - BLACK VINYL 10" (Music Fear Satan) $15.99
* Daitro - Cendresdes Cendres, Je Me Consume - CLEAR COLORED VINYL 10" (Music Fear Satan) $15.99
* Thou / Mohoram Atta - Degradation of Human Life [split] - SALMON COLORED VINYL 12" (Halo Of Flies) $10.99

That's it for now, peace!

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EMPLOYER, EMPLOYEE discography LP finally released, tons of shirts +way more - BIG UPDATE!

The big news for the Robotic Empire - Online Store this week is the extremely long awaited release of the EMPLOYER, EMPLOYEE discography! An untold time in the making (the master alone has been done for 4 years), we are absolutely thrilled to finally present this beast to you!


Early pioneers of mixing metal, punk, grind and hardcore, Austin, Texas' EMPLOYER, EMPLOYEE were almost TOO ahead of their time... blowing away the few that "got it", leaving others slack-jawed and stunned. We were beyond words when witnessing these fiends in the late 90's, and in the Robodog heyday were lucky enough to release the sic[sic] CD followup to their classic debut EP, Mother Spain and the Wayfaring Myth. Both of which comprise this stunning discography release.

Recorded back in 1998 and 2000, seriously think for a minute about what you were doing during that timeframe. These guys were busy pushing envelopes left and right, doing things that may seem somewhat commonplace today, but were generally weird and/or unheard of back in those days. They were one of the few bands that flawlessly incorporated both low, growly vocals AND dissonant melody within hardcore music... and beyond that, they actually constructed damn good songs utilizing additional elements pulled from punk, metal and grindcore influences.

The audio has been carefully re-mastered from the original DAT tapes... and ten blistering songs that absolutely stand the test of time are the result of many years of work. The hair-standing lyrics are still just as vital today as in they days which they were written, accompanying waves of distorted yet lush guitars, completely frantic and unique drumming, plus a general energy and passion that is hard sought and much coveted. To put it lightly, EMPLOYER, EMPLOYEE were a band of rare quality.


Part of the reason why this release has taken so long to see the light of the day is the artwork. Originally designed with the CD-sized format of sic[sic] in mind, Aaron Turner's original layout has been meticulously reconstructed for the vinyl edition. Keeping the feel and theme of sic[sic] in mind, the imagery has been modified to spread across two LP-sized panels of a three-color silkscreened jacket (printed by Broken Press, another photo of which can be seen here). Also included is a double sided photocopied insert, cloth patch, 1" button and free digital download. We are charging $12.99 for this release; all copies come on clear colored vinyl and the entire pressing is limited to just 300 copies.

A lot of thought and time has gone into the presentation of this release, as it is the last will and testament to a band from another era. EMPLOYER, EMPLOYEE left a lasting impression on us that started over a decade ago, and we're honored to present this discography for your enjoyment. We hope you'll take something from it as well.

* This is available NOW in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
* Two preview tracks from this discography release can be heard on our Facebook and/or Myspace pages
* One track can be downloaded (along with 17 others) on our recent FREE Robotic Empire - Label Sampler 2k10

Phew! Wow, quite a lot to say about a band that only so many people have heard of. PLEASE check out the discography if you can though, we highly recommend it! Beyond that, we've also got an outstanding update for the Robotic Empire - Online Store that would be noteworthy even without the EMPLOYER, EMPLOYEE LP:

Standout new stuff this time include the long-awaited DOVE vinyl release (ex-FLOOR, ex-CAVITY, pre-HOUSE OF LIGHTNING), two excellent GRAILS LP reissues on color wax that the band recently re-pressed themselves (both of which we originally released), plus a slew of killer t-shirts officially licensed by Bad Skulls including CHARLES BRONSON, IRON LUNG and SPAZZ! On the re-stock tip we've got a handful of distributor-returned BATTLE OF MICE / JESU CDs (last chance to dance on this one), DOLCIM LPs, two shirts from Eat Death and a couple other jammers as well. Here's the full list:

NEW ITEMS:
* Charles Bronson - Taking Aim - Size: EXTRA LARGE T-Shirt (Bad Skulls) $11.99
* Charles Bronson - Taking Aim - Size: LARGE T-Shirt (Bad Skulls) $11.99
* Charles Bronson - Taking Aim - Size: MEDIUM T-Shirt (Bad Skulls) $11.99
* Charles Bronson - Taking Aim - Size: SMALL T-Shirt (Bad Skulls) $11.99
* Dodgin' Bullets - Earn Your Respect - GOLD COLORED VINYL 12" (True Stance) $9.99
* Dove - Self-Titled - GREEN COLORED VINYL 12" (Financial Ruin) $18.99
* Dove - Self-Titled - PURPLE COLORED VINYL 12" (Financial Ruin) $18.99
* Drowning with Our Anchors / Maladie - Split - BROWN COLORED VINYL 10" (Glory Kid) $11.99
* Employer, Employee - Discography - CLEAR COLORED VINYL 12" (Robotic Empire) $12.99
* Employer, Employee - Discography - PRINT (Robotic Empire) $3.99
* Gehenna - Upon The Gravehill - BLUE COLORED VINYL 12" (King Of The Monsters) $12.99
* Grails - Redlight - BROWN COLORED VINYL 12" (Pamlico Sound) $16.99
* Grails - The Burden of Hope - GOLD COLORED VINYL 12" (Pamlico Sound) $16.99
* Green & Wood - Self-Titled - GREEN COLORED VINYL 12" (Cyclopean) $13.99
* Iron Lung - Fry Face - Size: EXTRA LARGE T-Shirt (Bad Skulls) $11.99
* Iron Lung - Fry Face - Size: LARGE T-Shirt (Bad Skulls) $11.99
* Iron Lung - Fry Face - Size: MEDIUM T-Shirt (Bad Skulls) $11.99
* Iron Lung - Fry Face - Size: SMALL T-Shirt (Bad Skulls) $11.99
* Loose Lips Sink Ships / Victor Villarreal - Eating Happens 7" (Whaleplane) $5.99
* Mammoth Grinder - Extinction of Humanity 12" (Cyclopean) $10.99
* Slaughter Strike - At Life's End 12" (Cyclopean) $12.99
* Spazz - Hang Loose - Size: EXTRA LARGE T-Shirt (Bad Skulls) $11.99
* Spazz - Hang Loose - Size: LARGE T-Shirt (Bad Skulls) $11.99
* Spazz - Hang Loose - Size: MEDIUM T-Shirt (Bad Skulls) $11.99
* Spazz - Hang Loose - Size: SMALL T-Shirt (Bad Skulls) $11.99
* Sungod - First Matter 12" (Cyclopean) $13.99
* Unholy Grave - Grind Hell - RED ORANGE COLORED VINYL 10" (Death Agonies & Screams) $10.99
* Wyqm - Portrait of Spectre - RED WITH BLACK SPLATTER COLORED VINYL 12" (Death Agonies & Screams) $9.99

RESTOCKS:
* Charles Bronson - Mugshot T-Shirt - Size: LARGE (Eat Death) $11.99
* Charles Bronson - Mugshot T-Shirt - Size: MEDIUM (Eat Death) $11.99
* Charles Bronson - Mugshot T-Shirt - Size: SMALL (Eat Death) $11.99
* Dolcim - Guillotine Ride 12" (React With Protest) $10.99
* Electric Wizard - Dopethrone T-Shirt - Size: EXTRA LARGE (Eat Death) $11.99
* Electric Wizard - Dopethrone T-Shirt - Size: LARGE (Eat Death) $11.99
* Electric Wizard - Dopethrone T-Shirt - Size: MEDIUM (Eat Death) $11.99
* Jesu / Battle of Mice - Split CD (Robotic Empire) $11.99
* Trainwreck / Comadre - Split 12" (React With Protest) $11.99
* Unholy Grave - Grindignation - SQUARE-SHAPED BLUE/BLACK COLORED VINYL 7" (Death Agonies and Screams) $7.99

We'd also like to take this opportunity to point out that we've recently dropped another new release, the debut CD from NEON BASTARD, New Zealand's latest freaks of powerviolence, grind, punk and more. An insanely rad album, we've got it available now for only 6 bucks. This and a few other new items & restocks from the last update should probably be reiterated due to sheer crucialness! Plus, a gnarly NEON BASTARD review can (and should) be read here. Here's that last update's list of stuff:

NEW ITEMS: (from 09/05/10)
* Ancient VVisdom / Charles Manson - Split - 1-Sided GREY COLOREED VINYL 12" (Withdrawl) $11.99
* Gnaw Their Tongues - L'arrive De La Terne Mort Triomphante CD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* Hot Cross - Risk Revival - YELLOW COLORED VINYL 12" (Destructure) $16.99
* Knut - Wonder 12" (Conspiracy) $13.99
* Knut - Wonder CD (Conspiracy) $12.99
* Lords - F' All Y'all Motherf'rs - WHITE COLORED VINYL 12" (Destructure) $17.99
* Neon Bastard - Meikhaus CD (Robotic Empire) $5.99
* Reaching Away - Push Away The Moon 12" (McMurtrey) $10.99
* Red Sparowes - The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer 12" (Conspiracy) $14.99
* Red Sparowes - The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer CD (Conspiracy) $12.99
* Summer Pledge - You Are You 12" (Self Released) $7.99
* Taiga - Hsheal 12" (Conspiracy) $14.99
* Teens In Trouble [aka Pizza] - Self-Titled Cassette (Self Released) $4.99
* Wolves In The Throne Room - Black Cascade - PICTURE DISC VINYL 2x12" (Conspiracy) $25.99

RESTOCKS: (from 09/05/10)
* A Day In Black And White / Golden Birds - Split 7" (Paranoid) $4.99
* Amanda Woodward - Meurt La Soif - BROWN COLORED VINYL 7" (Paranoid) $4.99
* Geisha - Die Verbrechen Der Liebe CD (Crucial Blast) $5.99
* Geisha - Mondo Dell'Orrore CD (Crucial Blast) $7.99
* Giants - Old Stories - SPLATTER COLORED VINYL 12" (Cavity) $9.99
* Hot Cross - Risk Revival - ORANGE COLORED VINYL 12" (Paranoid) $16.99
* Hot Cross / The Holy Shroud - Split - PICTURE DISC 7" (Paranoid) $5.99
* Kowloon Walled City - Turk Street - RED BLACK HAZE COLORED VINYL 10" (Wordclock) $7.99
* Lords / Karysun - Split - RED COLORED VINYL 10" (Destructure) $16.99
* Monarch - Dead Men Tell No Tales 2xCD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* Nadja - Desire In Uneasiness CD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* Souvenirs Young America - An Ocean Without Water CD (Crucial Blast) $7.99

YES! Love a big update. Hopefully there's something in there that strikes ya, and if so please hit up the Robotic Empire - Online Store for all this jibba jab and thousands of other items spanning the underground music universe. PEACE!

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"an inspirational pace, yet still dazzlingly hyperactive, tongue-in-cheek and thrilling" (aka: badass NEON BASTARD review!)

The first freakishly accurate NEON BASTARD review has come in, courtesy of our longrunning Canadian brothers at Exclaim! Check it:

"The debut release from some of the craziest New Zealanders this side of Peter Jackson, Meikhaus features more chaos, dissonance and overt belligerence than dudes dubbed 'kiwis' should be able to dig up. Creating a volatile cocktail of extremities, the album's 11 songs barely reach out beyond the time necessary for a really good bowel movement, but in those 20something minutes, we hear the frenzy of Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Zeke-ish primal punk, the rumbling upheaval Death Breath have been milking lately and loads of fuzzed-out, Sabbath-meets-Sabbath cover band groove (read: decadent stoner rock). Capable of managing an inspirational pace, yet still dazzlingly hyperactive, tongue-in-cheek and thrilling, Meikhaus sounds almost as if Mike Patton channelled his spirit into something less snide and more appreciable on multiple levels while stealing some of the youthful energy of his hosts."

BOOYA! That well paraphrases the madness that is NEON BASTARD's debut album, now available direct from us for only 6 bucks! We're keeping this one real cheap to encourage people to pick it up, as we're real hyped on what these down undererer maniacs have cooked up. There's so much going on within this album that we highly implore you to check it out!

* Preview here, here or here
* Purchase here

NEON BASTARD debut out now (+giveaway), new RED SPAROWES and way more!

We're excited to announce that a new Robotic Empire label release is now available, this time from New Zealand beasts NEON BASTARD! Meikhaus is the name of their album and CD is the circular format we've released it on. There's 11 tracks within 22 minutes, so that should say something about the frenzied pace of this maniacal debut. We're talkin furious punk, raging hardcore, stoney riffs, gritty noise rock and blasting powerviolence attacks.

Incidentally this is the second gnarly band from magical the land of kiwis that we've worked with, the first being last year's crushing debut EP from DIAL, whom NEON BASTARD share a guitar player. Incestious yes, but damn good jams of a very different nature are found on Meikhaus. The first 50 brave orderers will also get a free 1" NEON BASTARD button. Also: the first person to accurately guess what band (& release) NEON BASTARD have blatantly plagiarized on their album cover gets a FREE copy of said album!

* This is available now in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
* You can hear two tracks here, or possibly here (if you can find the player)
* Tracks from NEON BASTARD, DIAL and 16 others can be found now on our FREE Robotic Empire Label Sampler 2k10. Lil Jon approved!


Decibel Magazine was kind enough to give Meikhaus a nice little review too, found in the current issue with REFUSED on the cover. The detailed history of their landmark The Shape of Punk to Come album is a pretty good read as well. Pick that up here.

Beyond that overdue new label activity, we've also got a really solid update for the Robotic Empire - Online Store this week. Almost everything new is notable on some level, but standouts include the new PIZZA er... uh TEENS IN TROUBLE cassette (wtf name change / no more slices?!), new RED SPAROWES on both CD and vinyl, TAIGA import LP (Cliff from ISIS/RED SPAROWES/WINDMILLS BY THE OCEAN solo ambient glory), more imports and even more killer imports. Several screamo and doomy restocks as well, here ya go:

NEW ITEMS:
* Ancient VVisdom / Charles Manson - Split - 1-Sided GREY COLOREED VINYL 12" (Withdrawl) $11.99
* Gnaw Their Tongues - L'arrivÈe De La Terne Mort Triomphante CD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* Hot Cross - Risk Revival - YELLOW COLORED VINYL 12" (Destructure) $16.99
* Knut - Wonder 12" (Conspiracy) $13.99
* Knut - Wonder CD (Conspiracy) $12.99
* Lords - F' All Y'all Motherf'rs - WHITE COLORED VINYL 12" (Destructure) $17.99
* Neon Bastard - Meikhaus CD (Robotic Empire) $5.99
* Reaching Away - Push Away The Moon 12" (McMurtrey) $10.99
* Red Sparowes - The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer 12" (Conspiracy) $14.99
* Red Sparowes - The Fear Is Excruciating, But Therein Lies The Answer CD (Conspiracy) $12.99
* Summer Pledge - You Are You 12" (Self Released) $7.99
* Taiga - Hsheal 12" (Conspiracy) $14.99
* Teens In Trouble [aka Pizza] - Self-Titled Cassette (Self Released) $4.99
* Wolves In The Throne Room - Black Cascade - PICTURE DISC VINYL 2x12" (Conspiracy) $25.99

RESTOCKS:
* A Day In Black And White / Golden Birds - Split 7" (Paranoid) $4.99
* Amanda Woodward - Meurt La Soif - BROWN COLORED VINYL 7" (Paranoid) $4.99
* Geisha - Die Verbrechen Der Liebe CD (Crucial Blast) $5.99
* Geisha - Mondo Dell'Orrore CD (Crucial Blast) $7.99
* Giants - Old Stories - SPLATTER COLORED VINYL 12" (Cavity) $9.99
* Hot Cross - Risk Revival - ORANGE COLORED VINYL 12" (Paranoid) $16.99
* Hot Cross / The Holy Shroud - Split - PICTURE DISC 7" (Paranoid) $5.99
* Kowloon Walled City - Turk Street - RED BLACK HAZE COLORED VINYL 10" (Wordclock) $7.99
* Lords / Karysun - Split - RED COLORED VINYL 10" (Destructure) $16.99
* Monarch - Dead Men Tell No Tales 2xCD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* Nadja - Desire In Uneasiness CD (Crucial Blast) $9.99
* Souvenirs Young America - An Ocean Without Water CD (Crucial Blast) $7.99

Also worth noting is our insane-o blowout sale on some Robo catalog titles (plus a few others recently discounted). Get em while they're cheap!

* A Life Once Lost - Open Your Mouth For The Speechless CD $.99
* A Life Once Lost - The Fourth Plague: Flies CDep $.99
* An Albatross - London: Live! Test Press Version - COLORED VINYL 12" $19.99
* An Albatross - London: Live! - COLORED VINYL 12" $12.99
* A Storm Of Light / Nadja - Primitive North [split] - PHOSPHORESCENCE COLORED VINYL 2x12"+CD $16.99
* Bad Secrets - Self-Titled - 9"+CD ALL VINYL VERSIONS - $9.99
* Big Business - Mind The Drift - BLACK VINYL 12" $19.99
* Black Cross - Sink, Knives and Chrome CDep $4.99
* Black Cross - Severance Pays CD $8.99
* Cannabis Corpse - Tube Of The Resinated 12" *ALL VINYL VERSIONS* $11.99
* Capsule - Self-Titled (Tape + Demo + Tour + More) 12" *ALL VINYL VERSIONS* $10.99
* Clouds - We Are Above You - 2x12"+CD $14.99
* Coliseum - Goddamage CD $5.99
* Ghastly City Sleep - Self-Titled 12" *ALL VINYL VERSIONS* $9.99
* Hewhocorrupts - Midi of Profits USB Bracelet $12.99
* Pelican / These Arms Are Snakes - Split - BLACK VINYL 10" $9.99
* Thou - Baton Rouge, You Have Much To Answer For - BLACK VINYL 12" $10.99
* Tideland - Asleep In The Graveyard 12" ALL VINYL VERSIONS $9.99
* Tideland - Pancake - T-Shirt ALL SIZES $9.99
* Torche - Bear - T-Shirt ALL SIZES $10.99
* Torche - In Return - ''Flies' T-Shirt ALL SIZES $10.99
* Torche - In Return - 10"+CD ALL VINYL VERSIONS $11.99
* Torche - Possessed - T-Shirt ALL SIZES $10.99
* Versoma - Life During Wartime 12" ALL VINYL VERSIONS $4.99


Thanks for checking out this latest update, peace!

Robotic Empire - Online Store

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