TORCHE is one of the few bands that we've been alongside for the entire ride, from inception up to present activity. We love this band, they are seriously awesome dudes who write seriously catchy, heavy music. It always feels good to post updates in regards to TORCHE and today we're happy to announce their two full-length albums have been newly re-pressed on vinyl.

Meanderthal is the album that took TORCHE from the underground to the semi-aboveground. It was on many best-of lists in 2008 (including the #1 spot in the fantastic Decibel Magazine). As it turned out, this ended up being their final album with 2nd guitarist Juan Montoya* and the end of the first era of the band. We ultimately outdid ourselves (and many others) with the first layout/packaging for this thing, with two die-cut tri-folding LP jackets attached together.... and while we would've loved to keep it in print that way, it just wasn't financially feasible. So in an effort to keep one of our favorite albums in print, a new and somewhat simplified version of Meanderthal has been newly re-pressed.


Now packaged in a standalone gatefold jacket, Montoya and Aaron Turner's original artwork has been mostly kept intact, and overall it still looks pretty damn killer (photo proof). We're glad there was a way to keep this album in print, as it truly is stellar! 2000 more of this have been pressed, with standard black vinyl available along with three "color in color" versions of oranges, silvers and yellows, as well as a red/white/blue tri-blend) . The ones photographed above compliment the layout quite well, and we're happy to announce that this is now available again in the Robotic Empire - Online Store.

+ We also have a small amount of the original/deluxe jacket version, as described above. Last copies available anywhere. +


In addition to Meanderthal finally being available on vinyl again, we're now up to the fifth(!) pressing of the Self-Titled Reissue debut LP. This time around we kept the color vinyl (relatively) simple for a change and went with a Jah-inspired rasta tri-blend! 1000 more copies for this pressing (500 black, 500 rasta jawns), also available now in the Robotic Empire - Online Store.

++ Both Meanderthal and the Self-Titled Reissue LPs are now nicely priced at $11.99 each, about 4 bucks cheaper than before for S/T and $8 cheaper for Meander. ++

All of this recent TORCHE activity is culminating just in time for a massive summer tour (dates below), hot on the heels of guitarist/vocalist Steve Brooks "other" band FLOOR just completing their first proper US tour in eight years! We recently re-pressed the FLOOR Below & Beyond discography 8xCD set for their tour and still have some copies in stock. Seeing as how the band may be (relatively) dormant for a while with TORCHE getting busy again, we've just discounted the 8xCD FLOOR set to $29.99 , which can be found now in the Robotic Empire - Online Store. We also have a slew of classic FLOOR t-shirts available and are now down to the last half dozen (or less) copies of the ultramega 10xLP, 1x7", 8xCD, 32-page-booklet deluxe vinyl edition... Seriously: last chance to dance on that beaut!

As we mentioned above, TORCHE is hitting the road for a substantial US tour, co-headlining alongside BIG BUSINESS (plus HELMS ALEE or THRONES, depending on what part of the country you're in). The "new guy" 2nd guitarist (and longtime Robo-ally) Andrew Elstner** is firmly in the band now and they are officially on fire once again! Wisely witness this commotion IRL:

w/ BIG BUSINESS & HELMS ALEE:
7/07 Houston, TX @ Fitzgerald’s Downstairs
7/08 Baton Rouge, LA @ Spanish Moon
7/09 Birmingham, AL @ Bottletree Cafe
7/11 Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum
7/12 Miami, FL @ Churchill's
7/13 Orlando, FL @ The Social
7/14 Atlanta, GA @ EARL
7/15 Greensboro, NC @ Greene Street Club
7/16 Washington, DC @ Rock and Roll Hotel
7/17 Baltimore, MD @ The Ottobar
7/19 Philadelphia, PA @ First Unitarian Church
7/20 Brooklyn, NY @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
7/21 Cambridge, MA @ Middle East Downstairs
7/22 Buffalo, NY @ Mohawk Place
7/23 Cleveland Heights, OH @ Grog Shop
7/24 Newport, KY @ The Historic Southgate House
7/25 Grand Rapids, MI @ The Pyramid Scheme
7/26 Detriot, MI @ Magic Stick
7/27 Indianapolis, IN @ The Hoosier Dome
7/28 Chicago, IL @ The Bottom Lounge
7/29 Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
7/30 Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
7/31 Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
8/02 Salt Lake City, UT @ Club Vegas
8/03 Boise, ID @ Neurolux
8/04 Seattle, WA @ Neumo’s

w/ BIG BUSINESS & THRONES:
8/05 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
8/06 San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
8/07 West Hollywood, CA @ The Troubadour
8/08 San Diego, CA @ The Casbah
8/09 Scottsdale, AZ @ Martini Ranch
8/10 Albuquerque, NM @ Launchpad
8/12 Dallas, TX @ Club Dada
8/13 San Antonio, TX @ Korova
8/14 Austin, TX @ Red 7

TORCHE-related footnotes:
* Juan Montoya is now playing in MONSTRO, who recently signed to Vagrant (wtf?) and are going on tour with KYUSS and THE SWORD in September/October. Congrats Juan!
** Andrew Elstner was in the criminally underrated RIDDLE OF STEEL and is simultaneously now in the also criminally underrated TILTS. Check them out ASAP.

In addition to all the TORCHE related news, we have also expanded our already outlandish store-wide sales! For the rest of the month, 99% of the 7" EPs we carry are reduced further to only $1.99 apiece. That now matches our store-wide CD sale of just $1.99 per CD, CD-R, 3"miniCD, etc, etc etc. We got a little crazy there, but are only remaining this insane until the end of the month as we've actually cleared a good amount of much-needed space. Still lots of great items available at dirt cheap prices (including newly discounted CANNABIS CORPSE sweatpants), please check out the Robotic Empire - Online Store for all of our ridiculous discounts.


We've also got a meaty update as far as new items & restocks go! One big score this time around is the original BLACK TUSK demo EP, The Fallen Kingdom, finally pressed to wax by our homies at Hyperrealist. Eight songs, badass Baizley artworkin, raw sludgey goodness as only the dirty South knows how to properly do... and oh yeah, some logo-matched yellow vinyl copies too if you're quick!
Chop chop.

In addition to that jammer, we've got new stock from ANNIHILATION TIME (the II LP reissue with limited bonus 7"), CAPSULE's righteous new No Ghost album on ltd color vinyl, CHURCH OF MISERY and EYEHATEGOD essentials from Emetic, the unstoppable FELL VOICES LP from Gilead brethren, horribly difficult to obtain Throne imports (FLESHPRESS, LUDICRA, UNEARTHLY TRANCE), lotsa skramz (DANSE MACABRE, DOLCIM, HER BREATH ON GLASS, etc) for all the screamos out there, KICKING SPIT's awesome debut 12", PYGMY LUSH's unbearably good Old Friends album on import wax (with slightly different artwork), and heaps more killer stuff.

For restocks, we've got ARKTIKA, CANNABIS CORPSE, COMADRE, ELECTRIC WIZARD, GIANTS, MEWITHOUTYOU, SALOME, THOU, TITAN and more! Here's the full list:

NEW ITEMS:
* Annihilation Time - II - BLUE COLORED VINYL 12"+7" (Tank Crimes) - $11.99
* ANS / Ramming Speed - Split 12" (Tank Crimes) - $9.99
* Austrasian Goat, The / Hollow Sunshine - Split 12" (Vendetta) - $14.99
* Big Eyes - Self-Titled Cassette (Tank Crimes) - $4.99
* Black Tusk - The Fallen Kingdom - BLACK VINYL 12" (Hyperrealist) - $14.99
* Black Tusk - The Fallen Kingdom - YELLOW COLORED VINYL 12" (Hyperrealist) - $14.99
* Capsule - No Ghost - GREY COLORED VINYL 12" (Rorschach) - $12.99
* Church Of Misery - Volume 1 12"+7" (Emetic) - $19.99
* Danse Macabre - Einerseits Andererseits 10" (React With Protest) - $9.99
* Dead To A Dying World - Self-Titled - GREEN COLORED VINYL 2x12" (Tofu Carnage) - $26.99
* Dolcim - We Carry The Fire 12" (React With Protest) - $10.99
* Electro Quarterstaff - Aykroyd 12" (War On Music) - $11.99
* Eyehategod - Dopesick - BLACK COVER VERSION VINYL 2x12" (Emetic) - $19.99
* Eyehategod - Dopesick - WHITE COVER VERSION VINYL 2x12" (Emetic) - $19.99
* Eyehategod - In The Name Of Suffering 2x12" (Emetic) - $19.99
* Eyehategod - Take As Needed For Pain 2x12" (Emetic) - $19.99
* Fell Voices - Untitled 12" (Gilead Media) - $13.99
* Fleshpress - Rebuild / Crumble 12" (Throne) - $14.99
* Fleshpress - No Return 12" (Throne) - $14.99
* For Want Of - Self-Titled 7" (Resuscitate) - $4.99
* Gehenna - Malice - RED ORANGE COLORED VINYL 3x12" (Dark Symphonies) - $54.99
* Her Breath On Glass - We Aimed Straight Down - RED BLACK COLORED VINYL 12" (IFB) - $9.99
* Kicking Spit - Psychrockbullsh!t - WHITE COLORED VINYL 12" (Tank Crimes) - $9.99
* Ludicra - The Tenant 2x12" (Throne) - $29.99
* Pygmy Lush - Old Friends - BLACK IMPORT VINYL 12" (Adagio830) - $14.99
* Pygmy Lush - Old Friends - RED COLORED IMPORT VINYL 12" (Adagio830) - $14.99
* Resurrectionists / Battle Of Wolf 359 - Split 10" (React With Protest) - $10.99
* Suma / Unearthly Trance - Collaboration 12" (Throne) - $19.99
* Torche - Self-Titled Reissue - RASTA COLORED VINYL 12" (Robotic Empire) - $14.99
* Torche - Meanderthal - CUBAN FLAG COLORED VINYL 12" (Robotic Empire) - $11.99
* Torche - Meanderthal - ORANGE BLOB COLORED VINYL 12" (Robotic Empire) - $11.99
* Torche - Meanderthal - TAINTED SILVER COLORED VINYL 12" (Robotic Empire) - $11.99
* Torche - Meanderthal - YOLK COLORED VINYL 12" (Robotic Empire) - $11.99
* Velnias - Sovereign Nocturnal 12" (Vendetta) - $9.99

RESTOCKS:
* Arktika - At Zero 2x12" - COLORED VINYL (Narsharda) - $19.99
* Arktika - Heartwrencher 12" - GREEN SPLATTER COLORED VINYL (Narshardaa) - $12.99
* Cannabis Corpse - The Weeding 12" - ORANGEL COLORED VINYL (Tank Crimes) - $9.99
* Comadre - Wolf Ticket 12" (Adagio 830) - $14.99
* 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
* Electric Wizard - Dopethrone T-Shirt - Size: SMALL (Eat Death) - $11.99
* Giants - Old Stories 12" - SPLATTER COLORED VINYL (Cavity) - $9.99
* Mewithoutyou - AB Life 12" - BROWN COLORED VINYL (Gilead) - $14.99
* Mewithoutyou - Catch For Us the Foxes 12" - RED COLORED VINYL (Gilead) - $14.99
* Omega Massif / Mount Logan - Split 12" - CLOUD GREY VINYL (Vendetta) - $10.99
* Salome - Self-Titled 12" (Vendetta) - $12.99
* Stirling Says - Balboa 12" (Adagio) - $9.99
* Thou / Human Intruder - Split 7" (Dead Earth) - $5.99
* Titan - Colossus 12" (React With Protest) - $12.99
* Torche - Meanderthal - [DELUXE JACKET] BLACK VINYL 12" (Robotic Empire) - $19.99

Not a bad update after a slight gap there, hopefully something caught your eye and you're keen to hit the Robotic Empire - Online Store.

Last but not least, a quick update on a few current projects: both THOU and PG.99 will see new vinyl on Robotic Empire in early August! We've got a "megaEP" for THOU at the plants now titled The Archer & The Owle, and while we may obviously be biased, it absolutely rules! The PG.99 release is the long-overdue vinyl treatment of their Singles collection, along with a repress of the Document #8 album, both to coincide with their (now sold out) pending reunion at Best Friends Day in Richmond this August. We're hoping to have those for sale sometime in July or August, depending on when things wrap up.

That's it for now, please hit up the Robotic Empire - Online Store if you can! Peace!


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Well, our ballsoutcrazy June sale has come to an end, but we still have nearly 250 random items on sale at the moment, including this oft-overlooked weirdo record we dropped about two years ago... the sole release (thus far?) from BAD SECRETS:


We're going out of our way to post about this oddball release (a 9"+CD) as we just found an old review of this wild slab. Longtime brethren Crucial Blast are almost like an east coast Aquarius, whereas they take (lots of) time to type up detailed description of each item they sell. Impressive to say the least, and here's what they had to say about the aforementioned BAD SECRETS jammer:

"Weird, cavernous, bloozy garage skum from this duo out of Louisville, kind of a surprise offering from Robotic Empire. It's been descibed as "shoegazey" by some, probably because of the copious amounts of reverb that soak into every nook and cranny of these seven songs, but Bad Secrets sound to my ears more like the kind of drug-n'-booze addled noise rock outfits that were slithering out of downtown New York City back in the mid to late 80's, the sort of thing that might have appeared on Rough Trade or Homestead. The guys behind this are drummer Dan Davis (also of Kodan Armada) and guitarist Evan Patterson, the latter known for his involvement in some fine contempo pigfuck/noise rock outfits like Breather Resist, Young Widows and Black Cross. In this configuration, though, Patterson goes for a more drugged and dissonant sort of clamor, the two musicians shambling through these creepy swamp-stained dirges, a vague industrial quality sticking to everything as the twangy, skronking guitar wigs out over a pounding, percussive oil-drum throb, the songs partially formed, and apparently partially improvised as well. The recording is suitably dank and dingy, the aforementioned reverb-heavy sound has it's murkiness amplified by the low fi four-track production. Haunted, stoned gothic noise rock riddled with slurred, drawling vocals and ghostly wails, subterranean metallic scrape and trippy stereo panning, clanking riffs and chaotic drum freak outs, and weird production fuckery that ranges from sped-up tape noise and sudden drop-outs to grainy needle pops and room noise. Imagine Pussy Galore on Quaaludes, or Nick Cave stalking some ancient crypt, and you're in the general vicinity. The guitars utilize some neat shimmery Morricone-esque twang on some of the tracks, too, and the band occasionally even goes off into something resembling a nocturnal version of surf rock at times. Things get pretty "out" and psychedelic throughout this little record, but the duo are still able to produce some seriously catchy noise rock jams like "Gimmee Sound" and "Go And Leave". It's a cool offering of subterranean garage skuzz, presented on an unusual 9" size vinyl record in a silk-screened sleeve, and includes a cd version of the record." © CRUCIAL BLAST

There ya go. We've got that joint discounted to $9.99 at the moment, and with both formats together (CD and vinyl) you get double trouble on this one.

* BAD SECRETS in the Robotic Empire - Online Store
* YOUNG WIDOWS (and related) in the Robotic Empire - Online Store