Prosthetic
2009
Houston based Scale the summit are young band (average age of 22) who are now on their sophomore release. An album title does not always reflect the music contained on the disc. "Carving desert canyons" however is a remarkably fitting title for this album. These young guys are certainly creating beautiful and detailed musical landscapes. Not the style of album I have come expect from Prosthetic records, but it's a welcome release for sure. They would fall in the progressive rock bracket. Yet they reach out more and their sound consists of metal, hard rock, jazz and other sounds swirled into the mix. For starters I hear "Images and Words" era Dream Theater, Cynic, Eric Johnson and even some of Chris Poland's post Megadeth projects.
They work with 8 string guitars and a six string bass and my guess is that this helps their music to sound deep and heavy and they still manage to creat thick, rich tones as well. Instrumental music isn't for everyone, but I found these eight tracks easy to dive into. The band are very skilled and that fact is evident from the start. However this isn't a self-indulgent virtuoso style of music. Every note, beat and movement is geared towards creating the whole song to be as strong and powerful as possible. The songs are tight and very focused journeys through various textures and musical styles. My favorite aspect of this band is their ability to keep the flow of the music constantly going and at the same time they keep so many different angles coming and going. This band definitely had a vision for this album and they delivered it. There were a few songs that were similar and some songs that blended together some. Progressive music isn't always my thing, but I found this album to be a delight because the music is very cohesive and intriguing. Certainly one of the best albums I have heard so far this year.
myspace.com/scalethesummit
Without having heard the music at all, your descriptions, the name, and the fact that they're based in Texas makes me wonder if they were influenced by Explosions in the Sky.
ReplyDeleteAndy: The only thing they have in common is that they are both from Texas and are instrumental but that's where the similarity ends. They're much more ala Cynic and BTBAM sans vocals.
ReplyDeleteand they formed in Los Angeles. Not Texas.
ReplyDeleteI reviewed this at About.com Heavy Metal after this band chased me down to review their debut album at The Metal Minute. I was very happy they got signed, considering the strength of their independently-released debut. They've take one more step forward, and I definitely heard a lot of Eric Johnson and Vai on this sucker. A worthy album from a band on the rise.
ReplyDeletethey may have formed in LA but they're FROM Texas.
ReplyDeletefuck LA.
all of them are from texas sept the drummer hes from la quinta ca. they formed wile going to mi in hollywood
ReplyDeletethe drummers is not from texas he is from la quinta ca, they formed wile going to mi in hollywood
ReplyDeletebassist is from califronia too
ReplyDelete