Actually come to think of it, I also checked these guys out when they put out their first album "Monument" hit the airwaves/net. The album artwork caught my attention as I was finishing my previous job at the record shop. I guess that was the nice perk of the gig. There was always music to check out. I missed their 2009 performance with Dream Theater in Toronto (August 14th, 2009) here and still kicking myself in the ass for it. Damn my need for cheaper beer before a show (you all know what I'm talking about).
OK, back on track. The album artwork was created by Duncan Storr. He put the process on his website so you could see the transformation from start to finish. Check it out here; extremely detailed as well. Kudos!
(Artwork by Duncan Storr)
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
STS's album "The Collective" got the band major gigs around the US and abroad. Some of the artists they have toured with thus far are PERIPHERY, CYNIC, FAIR TO MIDLAND, BTBAM, DREAM THEATER, THE CONTORTIONIST, THE HUMAN ABSTRACT, PROTEST THE HERO and TRIOSCAPES.
Scale The Summit consists of:
Chris Letchford – 7 & 8 string guitars | Travis Levrier – 7 string guitar
Mark Michell – 6 string bass | Pat Skeffington – drums, percussion
Note that this will be the first release with STS's new bass player Mark Michell. No vocalist? Well as you can see from previous articles I have no problem listening and/or covering a band sans the vocals. As a vocalist myself, I try to focus on other parts of the band. Sometimes, just sometimes a guitar can pick up what a vocalist left behind. I think initially the band got a bad wrap from a few of their early reviews, like this one from Anti Music:
The fact of the matter is, for all of the individual pieces of Monument, there's very little practical structure to the music. Songs blur into one another, separated at best by a quick gasp for air as the player shifts to the next track, and the riffs frequently transition from one to the next before there's a chance to actually absorb anything.
Very little structure or must we visit the old (historically inaccurate) quote of Amadeus:
MOZART: I don't understand. There are just as many notes, Majesty, as are required. Neither more nor less.
EMPEROR: My dear fellow, there are in fact only so many notes the ear can hear in the course of an evening.
So that was maybe a little too sarcastic, but whatever...it happens; it's a blog. Chris commented on the transition from "Monument" to "Carving Desert Canyons", somewhat agreeing with the Anti Music review, but more focusing on the production values rather than the music itself (which is what I believe Anti Music was getting at):
“The new album has way more dynamics that Monument. The production alone was our biggest concern for this album. On the last CD, we didn’t quite get the production we wanted or enough time in the studio. We were able to spend a lot more time writing Carving Desert Canyons, and I think it shows, with the song writing having matured.” -Letchford
Soon after signing with Prosthetic Records in 2008, the band began recording it’s second album, Carving Desert Canyons, New Jersey’s Nuthouse Recording with producer Tom Beaujour. The album taps into the many different musical textures that Scale the Summit has mastered. One example is “Glacial Planet”, which submerses itself into everything, from great chord voicing to heavy riffs and melodic structures. Highlighting the overall dynamic scene of the album is “The Great Planes,” while a particular standout for the Letchford is “Dunes,” which he says is “a little different from what we’d normally write, in the it’s slower, heavier and darker.” (Scale The Summit Official Bio)
So keeping with the momentum and for those who are new to the band, check out guitarist Chris Letchford doing a play through of their song "Redwoods", which is a bonus track taken from their 2011 release of "The Collective":
So hopefully I have provided you with enough information to make a conscious decision about the band. They are solid, have a good following and will continue to tour the s**t out of their material with great acts. Speaking of touring, if the band (or I) have won you over, you can check STS out while they're on tour this summer!
US/Canada tour with Intronaut and Mouth of the Architect! Attn: Western Canada! We are finally making our return since 2009 on the Dream Theater tour! First tour in support of our new album “The Migration”, gonna be nuts!
June
5 - Seattle, WA - Highline*
6 - Vancouver, BC - Rickshaw Theater*
7 - Calgary, AB - Calgary Metalfest*
8 - Edmonton, AB - Pawn Shop*
10 - Winnipeg, MB - Osborne Village Inn*
11 - St. Paul, MN - Station 4
12 - Chicago, IL - Double Door*
13 - Cleveland, OH - Now That's Class*
14 - Rochester, NY - Bug Jar*
15 - Brooklyn, NY - Saint Vitus*
16 - Syracuse, NY - The Lost Horizon*
17 - Montreal, QC - Il Motore*
18 - Toronto, ON - Wreck Room*
19 - West Chester, PA - The Note*
20 - Boston, MA - Great Scott*
21 - Baltimore, MD - Metro*
22 - Charlotte, NC - Tremont Music Hall*
23 - Nashville, TN - The End*
24 - Atlanta, GA - Drunken Unicorn*
25 - Orlando, FL - The Social*
26 - Tampa, FL - The Orpheum*
27 - Metairie, LA - Cypress*
28 - Houston, TX - Fitzgerald's*
29 - Austin, TX - Red 7*
30 - Dallas, TX - Club Dada*
July
1 - Lubbock, TX - Jake’s Sports Cafe**
2 - Santa Fe, NM - Warehouse 21**
3 - Denver, CO - Marquis Theater**
5 - San Francisco, CA - Slim's**
6 - Los Angeles, CA - The Roxy**
7 - San Diego, CA - Soda Bar (with Castle)
8 - Tempe, AZ - Yucca Tap Room
# with Intronaut
* with Intronaut & Mouth of the Architect
** with Intronaut & Castle
We're also booking in-person lessons for this tour. Shoot an email to info@scalethesummit.com if you're interested. -STS
No comments:
Post a Comment