{"id":2967,"date":"2014-03-09T13:07:47","date_gmt":"2014-03-09T20:07:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/?p=2967"},"modified":"2014-03-11T08:43:51","modified_gmt":"2014-03-11T15:43:51","slug":"the-ocean-scale-the-summit-co-headline-the-lyric-theatre-in-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/metalassault.com\/gig_reviews\/2014\/03\/09\/the-ocean-scale-the-summit-co-headline-the-lyric-theatre-in-los-angeles\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ocean & Scale The Summit Co-Headline The Lyric Theatre In Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Andrew Bansal<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

March 8th 2014, The Lyric Theatre, Los Angeles CA: <\/strong>Based out of Houston TX and Berlin, Germany respectively, Scale The Summit and The Ocean have both made a habit of touring America on a regular basis, and still on the touring cycle for their spectacular latest album releases, the two bands came together for a co-headline tour, along with support acts The Atlas Moth from Chicago and Los Angeles’ own Silver Snakes. The trek began in Seattle on March 5th and made its way to Los Angeles last night. Even though most Los Angeles-based fans of The Ocean and Scale The Summit would have seen them in the recent past, this show promised to showcase these bands in a manner completely new and previously unseen.<\/p>\n

Located in a strange part of town that’s definitely not known for its rock ‘n roll, The Lyric Theatre also presented ticket holders with a sense of adventure and curiosity. Upon entering, the venue welcomed\u00a0attendees with a pleasant atmosphere, and a very intimate setting with a low stage and a capacity that couldn’t have been more than 200. The lightning was minimal which made for an overly dark setting, but as it turned out, the sound quality was excellent which was an important aspect for a show of this nature. The doors opened at around 7:20, much later than the originally scheduled time of 6 PM, but the place got filled quickly and people waited patiently for the show to start.<\/p>\n

At 7:45, Silver Snakes<\/strong> took the stage with a 30-minute set that carried a strong post-hardcore vibe but also demonstrated other hard rock and doom elements along the way. They’ve been around for three years and just released their second full-length album ‘Year Of The Snake’, and in front of an audience that was largely unfamiliar with them, they gave a good account of themselves. The experimental nature of their music makes it the kind that would take a few listens to understand and appreciate, but doesn’t create a bad first impression either. Folks attending any of the shows on this tour might be well-served to show up early and give Silver Snakes a try.<\/p>\n

Visit Silver Snakes on the web:<\/strong>
\nYearOfTheSnakes.com<\/a><\/strong>
\nfacebook.com\/YearOfTheSnakes<\/a><\/strong>
\ntwitter.com\/Silver_Snakes<\/a><\/strong>
\ninstagram.com\/Silver_Snakes<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next up were Chicago-based psychedelic doomsters The Atlas Moth <\/strong>who got an overwhelmingly positive reception from this crowd for their short but powerful set, a clear indication of the extent to which their fan base has grown over the past few years. They did the first Metal Alliance Tour in 2011 and toured with Gojira and Devin Townsend early last year, and this one should turn out to be yet another successful, well-chosen tour for them. Their performance here was nothing short of entrancing, as the majority of heads in the audience swayed to the delightfully slow rhythms of The Atlas Moth’s tunes. The Ocean’s new guitarist Damian Murdoch also joined them on stage for a song.\u00a0They played a few tunes from their forthcoming studio album ‘The Old Believer’ as well, including the title track. The album comes out in June, and judging by the material they played in this set, it’s going to be one to look forward to. Killer set by The Atlas Moth, in every aspect.<\/p>\n

Visit The Atlas Moth on the web:<\/strong>
\nfacebook.com\/TheAtlasMothBand<\/a><\/strong>
\ntwitter.com\/TheAtlasMoth<\/a><\/strong>
\nTheAtlasMoth.bandcamp.com<\/a><\/strong>
\ninstagram.com\/TheAtlasMoth<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is Scale The Summit<\/strong>‘s first ever tour with video production, and aside from the unwavering brilliance of their musicianship, the video aspect undoubtedly made last night’s set the best they’ve ever played in Los Angeles. The title of each tune was spelled out clearly on the screen in the stage backdrop, followed by an array of visuals that directly represented the meaning of the title. Making tunes memorable to listeners even without any vocals or lyrics has to be the biggest challenge faced by instrumental bands like them, but with this style of performance, Scale The Summit have definitely overcome that, as now for every tune the audience has a sequence of images etched in their minds. On their recent headline tour they played almost the entirety of their latest album ‘The Migration’ and while they’re still focusing largely on the same, there’s more material off of ‘The Collective’ in this set, along with a couple of older tunes. ‘The Dark Horse’ and ‘Narrow Salient’ came across as the highlights of the set. Their newer material clearly shows a heightened level of songwriting prowess and maturity, and it’s more and more evident every time they perform it live. This is absolutely the best tour to catch Scale The Summit on, as it’s the most powerful set they’ve ever presented. Surpassing their previous efforts every time they write new music and now coming up with new ideas to enhance their live performances, Scale The Summit are well on their way towards achieving true prog greatness.<\/p>\n

Check out Scale The Summit’s tour production teaser video to get a taste of what to expect:<\/strong><\/p>\n