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Welcome To Unbound Zine |
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| Album Review |
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Scale the Summit-Monument
(Self-Released, 2007)
Instrumental music needs to tread the line between catchiness and technical ability to be truly effective. You can have a five minute song that displays chops but if there is nothing to latch onto what is the point really? You might as well be listening to someone clicking a typewriter as fast as possible. Scale the Summit is a band that manages to get a perfect balance between simpler motives and more intricate rhythmic passages. There is no denying that this is a band with a lot of chops on display but what makes the album work is the fact that even the most intricate sections are still memorable and revolve around rhythmic and melodic hooks.
A problem I find with a lot of instrumental bands is that vocals could have easily fit. With Scale the Summit I am fairly certain that vocals definitely would not work with the band, short of having Mike Patton, who might be able to fit vocal patterns to the music. This is still an album that can be enjoyed by people outside of the musician world as well though. The riffs and ideas are accessible to the average person who really wouldn't know much about sweep picking or odd time signatures. They do an amazing job of keeping things from getting self indulgent and these are actual songs. In fact if you are expecting lengthy guitar leads with a million notes you won't find them here. The lead work is quite melodic and just like the riffs is well put together and memorable.
One aspect of the band that certainly stands out is the fluid drum performance. While the guitars have the opportunity to be a bit flashier, the drums stay straight forward and keep the music together perfectly. There are odd time signatures and hints of metal ferocity throughout the performance, but overall the drumming is rock solid and serves the songs first and foremost. It's nice to see a drummer sit back and impress with being incredibly tight instead of trying to impress with lengthy fills and a thousand cymbal hits per second.
Well written and melodically intense, it is of no surprise that Scale the Summit is one of the latest additions to the Prosthetic Records roster. If you enjoy Cynic, Canvas Solaris, the more melodic moments of Between the Buried and Me this is definitely a band that will excite your ears.
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 UN: How did Scale the Summit first come together? Was it hard to find like minded musicians to complete the line-up of the band?
Chris/guitar: We came together while attending Musicians Institute in Los Angeles. It was hard, very hard. Me and Travis had been playing together for a while, while living in Houston. We couldn't find like minded musicians for anything here. The whole moving to Los Angeles plan was to find those missing links and we acheived that!
UN: Did you know right from the start that you wanted the band to be chops based? Not that the songs arent memorable, but there is no denying the technical aspect.
Chris: For sure, me and Travis have always been into the complex song writing. Its just something that has always been fun for us. As you mentioned, we think about making them memorable when we write. Technical, but not boring.
UN: How long would you say it took to write the material for Monument? Does it take the band a long time to put together a full song?
Chris: It all depends. I usually write all the guitars, start to finish first. Then we work out all the drum parts from the begginning to end, bass added later. For example it took me and my drummer one week to put together all the drum parts for "Wolves", but every song was put together a little different, because someone will always bring something to table, so we'll end of re-working certain parts or adding in new ones, extending sections, etc....
 UN: Was it fairly smooth sailing while the band was recording Monument? Did it take a long time to get everything perfect or was the band under any sort of time constraints?
Chris: The recording process for the band was very smooth sailing, we all know our instruments well and practice a lot. As for the time it took to get it all mixed, the engineer messed all that up and ended up taking way to long. So that was a bummer. Our first album with Prosthetic will obviously not include that type of set back. Super excited about that and all our new material.
UN: How has the response been to Monument? Sometimes an instrumental album is a tough sell, but there are still many people out there who appreciate musicianship these days.
Chris: Defiantly the way things are, but the response from people in this scene has been great. Also with the Press, I think out of 50+ reviews we have received, they were all on the good. I think off the top of my head, there was only one really bad, but you could tell the guy just didn't like the style in general.
UN: How did the deal with Prosthetic Records come about? Did you guys send them a copy of Monument and it went from there? Are you guys excited about the deal?
Chris: Prosthetic actually requested a Press Kit from us. We had given one of our old demos to one of the guys that worked there and had kept in touch with him. Making sure he got all of our updates. Once "Monument" was released he contacted us about getting them a copy, which puts us where we are today. We are all excited about it. What will will accomplish with them is going to be great.
UN: Does the band have anything written yet for your next album? Can we expect any surprises? Will the album be similar in feel to Monument?
Chris: We have a lot written already for the next album actually. We aren't going to take any right turns and throw people completely off, but there will be a suprise for sure!
UN: While I'm sure it is still a ways off, do you have any producers in mind to work with for the album? I would say Jamie King would be a perfect match for the Scale the Summit sound. He has worked with similar bands and seems to know technical music quite well.
Chris: We do have one pretty set in stone right now, but I'm not sure if we can release it to the public yet.
UN: I was curious to ask about the use of 8 string guitars. Do you think it adds a great deal to the music? Also do you use 2 lower or higher strings? I know the usual 7 string has a lower string, but Steve Vai also experimented with his Universe by adding a higher string I believe.
Chris: I tune mine B E A D G B E G. So I have the extra low and one extra high. I feel it defiantly adds more to the music. Its an extended range instrument.
UN: For as technical as the band is, the music really isn't flashy. Would you say it was conscious to keep the solos to a minimum? I dont really think extended solos would really fit what the band is all about.
Chris: Definitely agree. When we write solos, they are minimal, but are tasteful and just enough to make it all come together. Plus we like more melodic solos that sound good, instead of just throwing in a million notes. We all shred in the bedroom, but that's where it stays.
UN: You recently had to cancel your touring plans due to van problems. Was it disappointing to have to cut the tour short? How did the shows go before you had to cancel?
Chris: Of course, it was very disappointing, especially when the second have of the tour looked to be better, based off the pre-sale. Shows were going pretty good before hand.
UN: Is touring full time something the band is interested in? Im sure once the debut album for Prosthetic is released you guys will be hitting the road more extensively and hopefully with a new van!
Chris: Touring is definitely going to be a full time thing with this band. We also hope that when the Prosthetic album comes out that happens!
UN: What do you hope for someone to take away from Scale the Summit? Do you think this is a band that can appeal to the music fan who knows absolutely nothing about technicality and music theory?
Chris: I think so. We write a lot of parts that I feel are very memorable, but I think we'll for sure always be more populated in the musician world.
Thanks for having me!
Official Scale the Summit Myspace
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