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Scale the Summit Scale the Summit is an American instrumental progressive metal band based out of Houston, Texas. It formed in 2004 and signed to Prosthetic Records. The band is influenced by other progressive acts such as Cynic and Dream Theater. The band gain ...
, an instrumental
progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...
band from
Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...
. Formed in 2004, Scale the Summit have released six
studio albums An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
, one
single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...
and one
demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...
. Scale the Summit was formed in 2004 by guitarist Chris Letchford and some classmates from the Los Angeles Musicians Institute. Their debut album, ''Monument'', was self-funded and self-released, but the group signed to
Prosthetic Records Prosthetic Records is an American record label specializing in heavy metal recordings, founded in Los Angeles, California in 1998 by E.J. Johantgen and Dan Fitzgerald. Prosthetic Records released the first two albums by Lamb of God and Animals ...
in time to release their second album, ''Carving Desert Canyons''. After the release of ''The Collective'', the group's third record and last to feature their original lineup, the band finally headlined their own tour in 2012, having been a supporting act on all tours up to that point. The following year, the band released ''The Migration'', the first to feature a new member in place of an original member, and two years later another original member left before the release of their fifth album ''V''.


''Monument''

''Monument'', the band's debut album, was self-released on July 10, 2007 and funded by the band members themselves. Letchford described the songs as "a lot more up tempo and in my opinion less organized, due to the lack of writing experience", and the production process as being sub-par in comparison to the band's standards owing to being self-funded. ;Track listing ;Personnel * Jordan Eberhardt – bass guitar *
Chris Letchford Chris Letchford (born October 7, 1984) is an American guitarist. He is the lead guitarist in the instrumental progressive metal band Scale the Summit. His technical ability has been recognized in magazines such as ''Guitar World'', ''Revolver'' ...
– 8-string guitar * Pat Skeffington – drums, percussion * Travis Levrier – 7-string guitar


''Carving Desert Canyons''

''Carving Desert Canyons'' was released on February 17, 2009, and was the band's first album to be released on a record label, Prosthetic Records. The cover art of this album is taken from The Wave, a
sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...
rock formation in Arizona, USA. By contrast to their first album, Letchford described ''Carving Desert Canyons'' as "a lot more organized" than their debut, in addition to being better produced as it was funded by an actual record label. The album's cover art was taken by a local Houston photographer, who sent them his portfolio of pictures to choose from; the eventual cover art was the first photograph Letchford saw in the portfolio. Critical reaction was mixed, but usually positive. Eduardo Rivadavia of
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
assigned a rating of 3.5 stars out of 5, and said that the group were inventive but that the album's lack of "the convenient handholds normally afforded by lyrics and vocals" would eventually bore listeners not accustomed to their style. Also giving the album 3.5 stars out of 5, Ray Van Horn, Jr. wrote for
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that the album's only drawback was "occasional repetition between songs", but praised the group's technical proficiency and their focus on creating an atmosphere for the listener.
Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...
gave the album an "excellent" 4.0 out of 5, and remarked that ''Carving Desert Canyons'' demonstrated a maturation and refinement of the band's musical style compared to the overly-technical ''Monument'', their debut.
Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
writer Chris Ayers compared the material to artists such as
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, Yes and Cynic, saying that the album would "ensure the band a high position on this year's best-of lists." The PRP rated the album 3 stars out of 5 and criticized the songs for belying the band members' true technical abilities, saying the songs sounded little better than customers playing at
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, and the production for being dynamically flat. ;Track listing ;Personnel * Jordan Eberhardt – 6-string bass guitar * Chris Letchford – 8-string guitar * Pat Skeffington – drums, percussion * Travis Levrier – 7-string guitar


''The Collective''

''The Collective'', the band's third studio album, was released on March 1, 2011, by Prosthetic Records. The title for this album was chosen to reflect the philosophy that guided the writing of the material - of many parts coming together to form a greater whole. The album cover features a
phyllotaxis In botany, phyllotaxis () or phyllotaxy is the arrangement of leaf, leaves on a plant stem. Phyllotactic spirals form a distinctive class of patterns in nature. Leaf arrangement The basic leaf#Arrangement on the stem, arrangements of leaves ...
spiral, a natural formation occurring in some plants, which Letchford described as a multitude of elements forming their own collective - and the inspiration for the album's title, as the band very often take inspiration from nature. This is the last release to feature original bassist Jordan Eberhardt, who left the band in early 2012 citing his reluctance to continue touring full-time; he was replaced by Mark Michell. A vinyl edition containing the bonus track "Redwoods" and limited to 250 copies was released in February 2012; the song was also released as a single. Phil Freeman wrote for
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
to compliment the group for opting to write songs with actual expression and not merely showing their technical talent off; he described ''The Collective'' as "a cohesive aesthetic experience, meant to be heard from beginning to end", and rated it 4 stars out of 5. Chad Bowar wrote for
About.com Dotdash Meredith (formerly About.com) is an American digital media company based in New York City. The company publishes online articles and videos about various subjects across categories including health, home, food, finance, tech, beauty, ...
that although he did not usually enjoy instrumental albums, those of Scale the Summit were an exception, and the only flaw he found with ''The Collective'' (which he rated 4 stars out of 5) was that "a lot of the songs fade out, which I don't personally care for, but that's a minor quibble". At
Ultimate Guitar Ultimate Guitar (Ultimate Guitar USA LLC), which is also known as Ultimate-Guitar.com or simply UG, is an online platform for guitarists and musicians. Its website and mobile application provides guitar tablature catalogues and chord sheets. UG ...
, the staff praised the album, describing the group as part of "the next generation of Vais and Satrianis", and noting that the group often use "mellower" material on the album instead of instrumental heavy metal at all times.
Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...
emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...
Eli Kleman rated ''The Collective'' an "excellent" 4.0 out of 5, and said that despite the lack of musical evolution between this album and the previous one, it was still their best yet.
Blabbermouth.net Blabbermouth.net is a website dedicated to heavy metal and hard rock news, as well as album and music DVD reviews. Blabbermouth.net was founded and is run by Borivoj Krgin. The first version of the website was launched in March 2001; in Octob ...
applauded ''The Collective'' as what reviewer Scott Alisoglu described as "an instrumental album every bit as musically engrossing and melodically enchanting as one with vocals", as he stated that Scale the Summit's "performances are otover the top in a technical sense" because the members of the group come together to "
reate Rieti (; lat, Reate, Sabino: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of 47,700. It is the administrative seat of the province of Rieti and see of the diocese of Rieti, as well as the modern capital of the Sabina re ...
a whole that is greater than the sum of those four parts". He closed his review by saying that although the band had not "reinvented the instrumental form", they have made an album thereof with greater coherency than is typical of the genre. ;Track listing ;Personnel *Jordan Eberhardt – 6-string bass guitar *Chris Letchford – 7-string guitar *Pat Skeffington – drums, percussion *Travis Levrier – 7-string guitar ;Sales chart positions


''The Migration''

''The Migration'' was released on June 11, 2013, by Prosthetic Records. The album artwork for ''The Migration'' was created by Duncan Storr. Letchford stated the band wanted artwork that fit the usual "organic/nature theme that we are costumed to using" with more of the color
green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 Nanometre, nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by ...
, adding that he also admired the album covers of progressive rock band Yes. The album's sound was intended to be "organic and natural", and Letchford praised producer Jamie King for being in complete agreement with and understanding the group's goals. Guitars were recorded to a click track first, followed by drums and then bass guitar. The mixing process was accomplished via email; King would send the group one entire mix of the album and the group would send him feedback in response. This was done five times before the album was considered finished. This is the band's first album with Mark Michell on bass guitar. Michell wrote the ending of "Oracle" and all of "Evergreen", which is a bass solo (Letchford noted that the higher-pitched sounds mistaken for regular guitars are actually all notes performed on the bass guitar). It is their last album with original drummer Pat Skeffington, who was replaced by J.C. Bryant after this album was released. At the time it was written, the band considered "The Traveler" to be their most difficult song yet. Based on 6 reviews,
Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...
gave the album 84 out of 100. Reviewing for
Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...
, Gregory Heaney praised the album, writing that the band's instrumental metal style was "fantastic" as opposed to intimidating (for listeners who felt that the genre was too "academic").
Sputnikmusic Sputnikmusic is an American music community website offering music criticism and music news alongside features commonly associated with wiki-style websites. The format of the website is unusual in that it includes both professional and amateur c ...
reviewer Jacob Royal also enjoyed the record, and specifically cited the composition of the track "The Olive Tree" as evidence that the band "knows exactly what it's doing" on this album. Scoring the record 8 points out of 10,
Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features in-depth coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly Exclaim! print magazine publishes 7 ...
's Trystan MacDonald praised the group for being able to "balance technical shredding and melodic atmospheric pieces", and thus create well-written songs that also display their instrumental prowess.
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rated the album 4 stars out of 5, as writer Natalie Zed remarked that the band's music lacks pretension, is engaging and has narrative qualities despite lacking vocals, and remaining true to their musical identity without being unable to innovate. She noted that "Odyssey" and "The Traveler" respectfully encouraged the listener to go on a journey of their own and reflected pensively on having completed one and been changed by it, and were thus dynamically-opposite tracks. At
Ultimate Guitar Ultimate Guitar (Ultimate Guitar USA LLC), which is also known as Ultimate-Guitar.com or simply UG, is an online platform for guitarists and musicians. Its website and mobile application provides guitar tablature catalogues and chord sheets. UG ...
, the staff felt that the band's best performances on the album were not their "fast-paced guitar-driven moments", citing "Atlas Novus" and "Olive Tree" as examples, but wrote that ''The Collective'' was a superior album and rated this one 7.7 out of 10.
Bravewords ''Brave Words & Bloody Knuckles'' (''BW&BK'') is a Canadian heavy metal magazine. Although based in Toronto, Canada, ''BW&BK'' features writers from the US, Germany and the UK, allowing the magazine to represent metal music from an internationa ...
reported that the album's opening sales were four times those of ''The Collective''. ;Track listing ;Personnel * Chris Letchford – 7 string guitar * Travis Levrier – 7 string guitar * Pat Skeffington – drums, percussion * Mark Michell – 6 string bass ;Chart positions


''V''

''V'' (pronounced ''Five'') was released on September 18, 2015 on Prosthetic Records. It was mixed by Jamie King and is the band's only album with drummer J.C. Bryant. It is also the band's last album with guitarist Travis Levrier and bassist Mark Michell. ;Track listing ;Personnel * Chris Letchford – 7-8 string guitar * Travis Levrier – 7 string guitar * J.C. Bryant – drums, percussion * Mark Michell – 6 string bass ;Chart positions


''In a World of Fear''

''In a World of Fear'' was released on May 19, 2017. It is the band's first album since ''Monument'' to not be released on
Prosthetic In medicine, a prosthesis (plural: prostheses; from grc, πρόσθεσις, prósthesis, addition, application, attachment), or a prosthetic implant, is an artificial device that replaces a missing body part, which may be lost through trau ...
, and is the band's first album with drummer Charlie Engen and bassist Kilian Duarte. It is also the band's first album to feature guest artists. ;Track listing ;Personnel * Chris Letchford - guitar * Kilian Duarte - bass (except "The Warden") * Charlie Engen - drums *
Yvette Young Yvette Young is an American musician from San Jose, California. She is the front-woman for the math rock band Covet. History Young is of Chinese heritage and comes from a musical family: her father Phil is a singer, accordionist, and composer, ...
- acoustic guitar on "Mass" *
Jeff Loomis Jeff Loomis (born September 14, 1971) is an American musician, best known for his role as lead guitarist in the progressive metal band Nevermore during its existence from 1991 to 2011, as well as brief tenures in its precursor, Sanctuary (band) ...
- solo on "Cosmic Crown" * James Ivanyi - solo on "Cosmic Crown" *
Angel Vivaldi Angel Vivaldi (born June 13, 1985) is an American guitarist, songwriter and producer. Voted "third best guitarist" in 2014 by ''Prog-Sphere'', he began his solo career in 2003. Vivaldi has self-released five records, ''Revelations'', ''The Speed ...
- solo on "Witch House" * Nick Johnston - solo on "Goddess Gate" * Per Nilsson - solo on "Goddess Gate" * John Browne - riff on "The Warden" * Scott Carstairs - solo on "The Warden" * Nathan Navarro - all bass on "The Warden"


Singles


Miscellaneous

In their early days the band recorded a
demo Demo, usually short for demonstration, may refer to: Music and film *Demo (music), a song typically recorded for reference rather than release * ''Demo'' (Behind Crimson Eyes), a 2004 recording by the band Behind Crimson Eyes * ''Demo'' (Deafhea ...
that was self-released in a quantity of about 3,000 copies. In 2012, live recordings of "The Levitated" and "Whales" were included in the Scion Label Showcase series, available as free downloads.


References

{{reflist, 30em


External links


Scale the Summit discography
at
Discogs Discogs (short for discographies) is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. While the site was originally created with a goal of becoming the la ...
Discographies of American artists Heavy metal group discographies