2011 Prosthetic Records
Reviewing an album without vocals always poses interesting challenges. It’s one less piece to analyze, critique and to talk about. Of course it’s typically the piece of the puzzle that most people can relate to. The common complaint regarding metal from non metal fans: “I don’t like the vocals,” or “I can’t understand what he’s saying.” It is for those people I might suggest Scale the Summit.
Sitting amongst Prosthetic Records very metal line-up, Scale the Summit stands out from their label mates not just by being instrumental, but also in their vivid concoction of metal riffing and surprisingly upbeat melodies. Their peers like Animals as Leaders, Periphery, and other bands known for their technical wizardry are impressive, but The Collective shows off Scale the Summit’s musical sensibilities. The songs aren’t some eccentric stroking of their own ego, instead they are well organized and beautiful windows giving us a view into a whole solar system of sound.
Despite there being no lyrics, The Collective tells stories, of course not with words, but with melody. The album as a whole is like a book, with each song being a chapter, the first few tracks offering a wide variety of tempos and emotions as if the band is introducing us to different characters. Scale the Summit blends together so well as a unit it’s sometimes hard to tell where the bass ends and the guitars begin. The percussion offers character without any unnecessary fills or over the top double bass. There are never any solos for the sake of shredding. Everything on this album is thought out and played for a reason. If it doesn’t serve the song, it’s not in the song.
At the end of the day this is just one of those albums you need to let do the talking. It’s obvious these guys have taken a great deal of time putting this together and it has paid off. It’s all too common for instrumental bands to be repetitive, for one song to bleed into another. This is not the case with the Collective. Every song has its own personality, its own genuine characteristics. A timeless piece of music that will be difficult for anyone else to top this year.
For Fans of: Animals as Leaders, Periphery, Steve Vai
Stand out Tracks: Colossal, The Levitated, Drifting Figures
Overall Rating: 8.75 out of 10
