By Andrew Bansal
Houston TX-based instrumental progressive metal band Scale The Summit released their fourth studio album ‘The Migration’ via Prosthetic Records earlier this year. The band began in 2004 and aside from releasing some extremely impressive studio albums, they’ve shared the stage with the who’s who of prog including Dream Theater, Cynic, Yes, and many others. This year, guitarist/principal songwriter Chris Letchford and his band mates outdid their previous efforts with a decidedly more focussed set of tunes wherein they’ve evolved musically but have presented the music in a manner listeners could easily relate to, with strong melodies, excellently crafted solos and an underlying heavy rhythm section that still allows them to cater to heavy metal fans, to a large extent. In other words it’s the not over-the-top, million-notes-a-minute kind of prog that would turn a lot of people off, and this is despite the fact that it’s instrumental, which is what really showcases the creative talents of Letchford. This 10-track journey is 42 minutes long, which is just about apt for Scale The Summit’s style of musicianship. It begins with ‘Odyssey’ and takes the listener through a diverse but cohesive flow of tunes like ‘Atlas Novus’, ‘Narrow Silent’, ‘Evergreen’ and ending with ‘The Traveller’. While ‘Narrow Silent’ is the heaviest track on the record, ‘The Dark Horse’ is perhaps musically the best composition on here. Scale The Summit have lived up to their past reputation as well as broken new ground with this album, and it seems like they’ve reached the dawn of a highly successful chapter in their career. ‘The Migration’ is a winner in every aspect.
Track Listing:
1. Odyssey
2. Atlas Novus
3. The Olive Tree
4. Narrow Salient
5. Oracle
6. Evergreen
7. The Dark Horse
8. Willow
9. Sabrosa
10. The Traveler
Duration: 42 minutes
Visit Scale The Summit on the web:
ScaleTheSummit.com
facebook.com/ScaleTheSummit
twitter.com/ScaleTheSummit
The countdown so far …
#50. Nails – Abandon All Life
#49. American Sharks – Self-Titled
#48. Hatebreed – The Divinity Of Purpose
#47. Helen Money – Arriving Angels
#46. Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats – Mind Control
#45. Ihsahn – Das Seelenbrechen
#44. Church Of Misery – Thy Kingdom Scum
#43. Wolvserpent – Perigaea Antahkarana
#42. Djinn And Miskatonic – Forever In The Realm
#41. Czar – No One Is Alone If No One Is Alive
#40. Against The Grain – Surrounded By Snakes
#39. Nekrofilth – Devil’s Breath
#38. Kylesa – Ultraviolet
#37. The Devil’s Blood – III: Tabula Rasa or Death and the Seven Pillars
#36. Kadavar – Abra Kadavar
#35. Purson – The Circle And The Blue Door
#34. Carousel – Jeweler’s Daughter
#33. Kvelertak – Meir
#32. SpiralArms – Freedom
#31. Satan – Life Sentence
#30. Exhumed – Necrocracy
#29. Havok – Unnatural Selection
#28. Mothership – Self-Titled
#27. UDO – Steelhammer
#26. Ramming Speed – Doomed To Destroy, Destined To Die
#25. Revocation – Self-Titled
#24. Gorguts – Colored Sands
#23. Kobra And The Lotus – Self-Titled
#22. Toxic Holocaust – Chemistry Of Consciousness
#21. Saxon – Sacrifice
#20. Noctum – Final Sacrifice
#19. Intronaut – Habitual Levitations (Instilling Words With Tones)
#18. Scale The Summit – The Migration
Check out #17 here.