First off, I would like to say thanks to Micah for starting this, we probably would have never done this thinking nobody cared!
It started like this: Myk Porter, Tom Wohlfield, Matt Simmons, and Mike Shaffer were all friends and deceided to start a CLEVO-style hardcore band, I am gonna guess here and say the fall of 1991 we were asked to play a party at Cherie Szucs house and we wrote and covered enough songs to play for about an hour or so. After that we liked what we were doing and figured we would start Six Feet Deep.
At this point we started playing shows nothing huge, Ymca's in Canton, small church shows, partys, whatever, We recorded our "SELF" EP demo tape at a studio in Lakewood, Ohio, I wish I could remember the name of it. We started playing concerts with mainly Crashdog, we knew these guys and kept in touch with them so when we had our demo tape they let us play some of their tour.
We shopped our tape to record labels there was not much in the way of christian "punk" record labels then, this is before tooth and nail as far as we new, we got a response from Tyler Bacon of R.E.X. records who had Living Sacrifice, Believer etc. so we went for it and signed with them. About that same time, we heard of a new label out of California called Tooth and Nail records, more of a punk/hardcore label which we would have rather been on, but it was pretty much too late to even pursue this as an option. So we pressed on.
It was time to write and record our first album "STRUGGLE" for REX. While we were writing we met Johnny Amansi, a good lead guitarist, and asked him to join us. We were asked by Dwid of Integrity to record a song for the "Dark Empire Strikes Back", Cleveland Hardcore compilation CD. We recorded Angry Son, definetely a better version than that which actually got on the Album! At some point, I can't remember exactly when, Johnny decieded to bow out of the band for family reasons (alot of good that did due to his later divorce). Anyway, we decided to stay a four piece and just record the album.
When Struggle came out, and mind you, this is my opinion, we were at the forefront of "Christian hardcore" there was metal, glam metal, and The almighty Crucified, Crashdog, but that was about it, At or about the same time as us 'Focused' came out on Tooth and Nail, it was great. Others in the same scene, their music was a little less "hard" in fact I might blame them for the EMO sound that was yet to come (just kidding). We toured some but mostly played weekend type shows and long road trips, this was due to the fact that nobody seemed to go to hardcore shows much during the week, its a drag to drive for 15-20 hours to play for 10 people. The absolute best show we could ever do was Cornerstone. I think that made it all worth while. Somewhere in this time frame we added a new person to play guitar for us, Matt Traxler. At this piont we started to hear more and more hardcore bands coming out like Strongarm, Unashamed, and NIV. I'm pretty sure I remember them on the new band showcase at Cornerstone, Bloodshed, P.O.D., and probably a lot more. I cant remember right now, most, if not all of these bands were on Tooth and Nail except P.O.D. It was great, more and more bands.
It came time for us to start writing our second album, "The Road Less Traveled". We wrote, in my opinion, a solid album. Rex sent us into the studio to record 1/2 of the album, I dont know why, maybe they just didnt tell us they were in financial trouble, I'm not sure. At this time, we had it rough. For some reason, Mike Shaffer and Matt Simmons both left the band due to family problems. Myk and Tom were left to record the rest of the album. We finished the album and REX pushed back the release date for what we now know are money problems. They pressed 1000 cds with no cover and gave them to us for promotion for Cornerstone. At this point, I am pretty sure Matt and Mike both were back in the band and it felt as strong as ever. Rex eventually released the Road Less Traveled about 2 months before they went under causing our album to get absolutley 0 promotion.
It boils down to the break up of Six Feet Deep. We were falling apart for some reason, Tom could not tour as much because he had a daughter, Myk started working on what he called a side project, Brantson, a sort of EMO thing. With Matt and Mike leaving the band earlier, I dont think Myk's heart was into it anymore and wanted to sort of mellow out the sound one way or the other. Me, Matt and Mike all did not like this idea and basically, this ultimatley led to the demise of Six Feet Deep. Myk eventually took Traxler and started his own thing, and Six Feet Deep was no more.
-Tom
Some schmoe says this...
Six Feet Deep is a Cleveland-based hardcore band. The group formed in 1991 and became popular within the Midwest, especially with their debut album, Struggle. After the record's 1995 release, the band moved to A&M Records, where they released The Road Less Traveled in February 1997. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Music Guide
Uh yeah. How about....In '94, these dudes steamrolled out of C-town into a scene that was completely Socal, and they put it on its ear. Saddled by a bad label that was barely afloat, they still managed to put out an excellent debut album that was a glimpse into the future of rapcore/numetal or whatever the kids call it these days. Fact is, Porter laid down about the most complex and quick lyrics in the genre (which rhymed by the way) over a slow grindcore beat that had people actually stomping through the floorboards of their cars.
Touring small venues around the country, they played in front of tens of fans with the likes of P.O.D. (who they were better than at the time, no disrespect), focused, Unashamed, Strongarm, and every other Tooth and Nail band probably.
Unfortunately, they only managed to squeak out a second album in 1996 (on their original label, not A&M) before calling it quits. Although it also killed, it didn't seem to have quite the flow of Struggle. If you google them, you can find that second album on overstock.com for $1. You can't lose at that price.
It would've been really nice to see what else these guys could've come up with, but like all the music in this scene, the lack of quantity has somehow enhanced its quality.
