Review Summary: Where's the conductor? There's got to be a conductor for this type of thing.
If albums such as The Who's
Tommy or David Bowie's
Ziggy Stardust can be considered rock operas, you'd have to admit that Scale the Summit have created what could potentially be called a rock symphony.
Sure, that could seem like a simple, and perhaps obvious statement, but with the music industry in its current incarnation, it seems like the world has forgotten musicians who take the time to carefully compose and arrange their music to a point where virtuosity is not only displayed, but displayed in its proper place. To create that experience of an evening in front of an orchestra where one movement flows seamlessly into the next, note after note washing over the audience.
The Collective sees Scale the Summit take that next big step from the mixture of jazz, metal, and progressive music that had mellowed a bit on
Carving Desert Canyons, giving it another good ounce or two of jazz to further mellow out the metal edge that has been sliding out of view since its most prominent appearance on 2007's
Monument. And it truly does make for a much more mature sound. Where
Monument was something that probably wouldn't have astounded someone with Classical sensibilities,
The Collective is far more likely to do not only that, but impress listeners of all tastes.
The Collective even sees Scale the Summit picking up a bit of the slack that was left behind by Isis; adding a post-rock sensibility to the mix that adds to their already sharp ability to create a soundscape that makes it all the richer. But perhaps the most important part of the maturing process for the band has been putting together the puzzle pieces of their individual virtuosities.
While past albums have acted as an acute framework for the guitar work of Chris Letchford and Travis LaVrier (with a little more space for Jordan Eberhardt's majestic bass skill on
Carving Desert Canyons than there was on
Monument), all four musicians have an equally powerful role in creating the ocean of sound that is
The Collective. That equal devotion and sound is easily not only acknowledged but appreciated, and creates a much more soulful and full-bodied sound than could be heard on previous releases.
However, this is still Scale the Summit and all of their hallmarks are still omnipresent throughout. There are still plenty of brilliant guitar solos, leading bass lines that play along or lead in lieu of guitar just fine, and drum lines that give and take direction with an amazing technicality executed in a fashion that feels like it's grown simple. But the sound has also been augmented by a rise in the skill level of all members of the band - the guitars unleash new tones and techniques on songs like "Black Hills" and "The Levitated" that add to the increased jazz and new post-rock elements of the music, the bass has grown even jazzier, but perhaps a bit more sedated to match the atmosphere of the music more than to lead the charge, while the drumming has taken a similar note, utilizing fewer double-bass passages and more tom-fills, listeners will see that Pat Skeffington, as well as the rest of the band, have been hard at work on their technique, making sure that
The Collective is the most refined release for the band yet.
The only downfall that the album has is a little disjointing feeling between "Secret Earth" and "Gallows." While the latter ends with a more relaxed jazz sensibility closer to the rest of the album, it starts off with the heaviest section on the album, implementing chug riffs and a bombastic drum pattern which aren't really seen anywhere else on the album. This isn't a bad thing if you're listening to the track on its own, but when starting after the sweet, fading notes of "Secret Earth" it disrupts the flow of the album for all of a solid minute, until a lovely melody rescues the track around the 1:27 mark.
Aside from that, this is album is a piece of gold that should cement Scale the Summit's reputation as one of the best, if not
the best instrumental group out there today.
The Collective is Scale the Summit making the shift from a progressive group to a four man ensemble with the power, emotion, and sensibilities of an orchestra. To tell an intriguing and passionate story without words - to let their strings do the singing for them. That's what Scale the Summit set out to do and that's what
The Collective has accomplished.
