For the first time ever, “Shelter” from Crawlspace is available on CD presented exactly the way it was meant to be. Newly remastered by Alex Mihm at Noble Savage, you’ll hear this foundational piece of history like you’ve never heard it before.
In the exact words of guitarist Nate Shumaker, “Everdown was Crawlspace.” The four song EP “Shelter” is a sort of prelude to what was to come from one of Tooth & Nail’s early artists. The band’s debut album, “Sicken,” was the 17th release from the then up-and-coming indie label. On top of that, they were only the fourth “hardcore” group to be signed to the label. Focused, Unashamed, and The Blamed paved the way for them.
Crawlspace could be lumped into the same category as those other heavier Tooth & Nail bands (which would later usher in an imprint that focused solely on that broad “genre” classification – Solid State Records), but they brought something different to the table than the metal-tinged hardcore of Focused and Unashamed or the straight-up hardcore punk vibes of The Blad. Crawlspace leaned into their influences of Helmet, Stompbox, Clutch, and other “aggro” bands to create something all their own.
“Everdown was Crawlspace.
While we’d previously been known as Dry Bones, the band was evolving and changing and it was almost like the heavens told us what to do when Chris broke his double kick drum pedal. After all, he had no intention of fixing it and we were tired of being a borderline metal band. We knew we wanted something different. A lot of people might not know that we actually recorded these songs under the Dry Bones moniker. Erik had taken time away and we’d recruited Rob Wolfe (Sacrament) to sing for us. Those recording sessions proved difficult.
Nate, Chris and Bryan had written four tunes that were definitely not metal. Rob had ideas and while the intentions were pure, we knew the vocals Rob recorded were not what these songs needed. Chris somehow convinced Erik to to come lay down vocal tracks and if felt right. It was not Dry Bones. We sounded like a brand new band. We needed a new name and Crawlspace was it.
There was no Christian hardcore scene in New England at the time. We were it. So when we started to shy away from playing church basements, we were on our own to figure it out. It was these songs that put us on the map. We got to play shows all over the northeast with bands that sounded like us. Shows with Sam Black Church, Stompbox, Only Living Witness, Life Of Agony, Wargasm, Earth Crisis, Sheer Terror, Converge, Slapshot, and Souls At Zero put us in a place where we could actually headline shows in our home base of anchester, NH. Some of which were so oversold that we’re lucky the fire marshall didn’t shut them down.
As much as all of this was happening, labels weren’t “getting it.” It was frustrating to hear that we were either too Christian, or not Christian enough. After a string of shows with Mortal, our little 4-song EP found it’s way to the ears of Brandon Ebel at the new label, Tooth & Nail Records. (He later would tell me it was all because of the end riff on “Stench” that hooked him). When Brandon wanted to include it on his compilation “Helpless Amongst Friends,” we kind of thought all of our hard work had finally paid off. Truth be told if it’d all ended there, I would have been 100% satisfied.
Little did we know that there was a lot of bigger things to come. Without these four songs, none of it would have been possible. It is a document of us and I’m still proud of it.” – Nate (March 2024)
Tracks:
1. Shelter 02:47
2. Nation Of Hate 03:46
3. Grip 04:24
4. Stench 04:22
Releases August 16, 2024
Releases August 16, 2024
Line-up:
Erik (Vocals)
Nate (Guitar)
Bryan (Bass)
Chris (Drum