Splinter Shards

Innermeans - Innermeans 7” — TN1092 / SS6 (1997)

This was one of the first five records I ever purchased. I saw Norma Jean on August 13th, 2002 here in Cincinnati, Ohio at a venue called The Void. It was the release show for the now legendary album Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child. They were on tour with Hopesfall, Every Time I Die, and 18 Visions at the time. Daniel Davidson, Norma Jean drummer at the time, had some distro stuff with him, including some copies of this record, which I picked up and have had ever since.

Innermeans - Innermeans 7”on Tooth & Nail / Solid State Records

Innermeans was from Riverside, California and yet another band with an abbreviated existence. They were around long enough to give us this EP but disbanded in the midst of recording their full length. Members of Innermeans included Sean Stopnik, who also played guitar in Bloodshed; Steven Dail, who spent time most notably in Project 86, but also played on albums by Starflyer 59 and The Dark Romantics; Alex Albert, who also spent time alongside Dail in Project 86; as well as bassist Timothy Clark and vocalist Alfred Pedrosa. The artwork was designed by the bands own drummer and was laid out by Don Clark, who as you have probably noticed, is responsible for a lot
of album artwork for T&N / SS over the years, as well as currently. The record is housed in a gluepocket folder. I discovered while making this post it also included an insert which my copy doesn’t have. I’ll need to track that down. Every copy of this I have seen has had a jacket covered in ringwear. Anyone have a copy with a really mint cover?

Pressing Information:
200 - Clear White
800 - Black
Unknown - Test Press

Tracklisting:
A1 Bloodguilt
A2 Fallingtime
B1 Dischord
B2 Casualtyofme

Focal Point - Neglected 7” — LSR006 (1996)

Focal Point was a very short lived hardcore band based in California. This band featured Ryan Clark on guitar before he later moved on to Training For Utopia and Demon Hunter with his brother Don.

Focal Point - Neglected 7”on Life Sentence Records

Focal Point existed very briefly, but just long enough to leave us with this 7” on Life Sentence followed by their full length Suffering Of The Masses on Tooth & Nail. This 7” features 3 total tracks, two of which, Neglected and Upright, would be rerecorded and included on their aforementioned full length. The design and layout of the 7” was actually designed by Don Clark. The record is housed in a one sided foldover sleeve and contains a double sided insert.

Pressing Information:
100 - Clear
400 - Clear Blue
500 - Black
Unknown - Test Press

Tracklisting:
A1 Neglected
A2 Violated
B1 Upright

Strongarm - Trials 7” — TNV008 (1995)

Forming in 1993, based out of Pompano Beach, Florida, Strongarm played a distinguishing style of hardcore and is arguably one of the most important and influential bands of the scene.

Strongarm - Trials 7”on Tooth & Nail Records

The Trial 7” was the bands third release on Tooth & Nail and bridged the gap between their two full lengths, Atonement and Advent Of A Miracle. This record featured two tracks, a reprise of Trials which previously appeared on Atonement, and Increase which would become the fifth track on Advent Of A Miracle. This version of Increase features a clip of Darth Vader from A New Hope at the beginning of the track. One thing I find very interesting about this release is the release number. TNV is the code that Tooth & Nail used for when they released 7”s. The jacket refers to it as TNV #7 yet the matrix is labeled as TNV-8. Not entirely sure which it actually is. I don’t believe this release came with an insert, as none of my copies have one, but if someone has one, please let me know. Record is housed in a gluepocket sleeve.

Pressing Information:
200 - White
800 - Black
Unknown - Test Press

Tracklisting:
A1 Trials (Reprise)
B1 Increase

Eso-Charis - Setting Roots For The Winter 7” — DSR003 (2000)

Eso-Charis was a mathcore band from Arkansas that flew under the radar but proved to be a launching ground for members of bands such as Living Sacrifice, Norma Jean, and The Handshake Murders.

Eso-Charis - Setting Roots For The Winter 7”on Deadself Records

Originally forming under the moniker, Elliot, the band changed their name it Eso-Charis in 1997 which in Greek translates to “within or inside grace”. The core of members included Cory Putnam, who went on to briefly play guitar in Handshake Murders and then became the vocalist of Norma Jean; Arthur Green, bassist of Living Sacrifice; Matt Putnam, also spent some time in Living Sacrifice as well as short stints in Unwed Sailor, Lovedrug, and Bear Colony; and finally Jayson Holmes, who played guitar and vocals in Lovelorn which later went on to become The Handshake Murders. Eso-Charis played tight, chaotic, metal hardcore that translated memorably into an energetic, dramatic live show, which garnered them tours with Living Sacrifice, Embodyment, and Blindside. This 7”, released on Deadself Records - which also released an album by Fed To Ravens and the very memorable Blessed Be This Killing compilation, was the last material the band formally released. The art was done by Kris McCaddon, who you may know from Embodyment, Demon Hunter, and The Famine. There are roughly 500ish copies of this floating around on two colors, Black and Clear Blue. There is also a rare variant of Clear Blue w/ Black limited to 18 that is presumably the transition copies between the two colors. My copy of normal Clear Blue also still has some Black in it, but is very early in the numbering sequence, #3. I would assume that later copies in the 110 did not have large traces of Black in it. Center label is blank white. Matrix on side A reads, “The devils cleverest wile…”. Matrix on side B reads, “…is to make men believe that he does not exist.” Jacket is a foldover cover with a small flap that includes the lyrics.

Pressing Information:
400 - Black
110 - Clear Blue – (Hand-numbered)
18 - Clear Blue w/ Black – (Hand-numbered)
Unknown - Test Press

Tracklisting:
A1 The Absolute Progress Of A Nothing Day
B1 House Left Empty

Training For Utopia - The Falling Cycle 7” — TNR1089 / SS5 (1997)

Training For Utopia were a metalcore/mathcore band featuring the legendary Don and Ryan Clark, of Demon Hunter fame. Ryan was also more importantly a guitarist in Focal Point before starting TFU with his brother Don.

Training For Utopia - The Falling Cycle 7”on Tooth & Nail / Solid State Records

This is the first of many Tooth & Nail / Solid State releases that will be featured on this blog. I’d just like to note that for said label releases, pressing info is never 100% accurate. No one really knows what the total pressing was and how that broke down between black and colored. My info just comes from other places I have seen it listed over the years. Onto the record. This was Training For Utopia’s first release and came out on July 29th, 1997. The Falling Cycle features four songs that were an introduction to the band and a preface to their full length that followed, Plastic Soul Impalement. Stylistically they play their own brand of dark metalcore with mathy elements. The third song on this 7”, Pretty Picture Of Lies, would be reworked, extended, and rerecorded for inclusion on the aforementioned full length. The second track on The Falling Cycle, Dead Signal, would also be reworked, in dramatic fashion, and featured on the bands final record, Throwing A Wrench In The American Music Machine. Record came housed in a standard glue pocket jacket and didn’t include an insert.

Pressing Information:
200 - Clear Olive
800 - Black
Unknown - Test Press

Tracklisting:
A1 The Falling Cycle
A2 Dead Signal
B1 Pretty Picture Of Lies
B2 Thoughtless Reminders