In a world where metal’s creativity is limited only by the relative close mindedness of it’s new found fanbase, there are a select few bands who defy stereotypes by flying in the face of what is expected of them. Scale the Summit, one such act who recognizes no stereotype, embarks on a new journey when their second full length album hits stores February 17th. By playing a brand of metal that can only be described as pure, clean, organic chaos, Scale the Summit’s sound lacks breakdowns, overt instrumental wankery, harsh vocals (well, no vocals at all to be exact), essentially allowing the listener to embrace the melodies, riffs and beats as they were bred to be in all their glory. I recently had the chance to chat with one of the band’s guitarists and also it’s co-founder, Chris Letchford and their new record coming out, and how their sound interacts with today’s scene.

Chris: Me and Travis had been playing guitar together in another band for a little while and have known each other since elementary school. We had been having a hard time trying to complete our line-up in Houston so we decided to move out to Los Angeles to attend Musicians Institute, but not just for the schooling. We figured it would be a prime place to really find some talent, but also with dedication. We found that pretty quickly picking up Pat and Jordan. Things got pretty serious and we all decided to move back to Houston to really pursue the band full time and get our full length finished the touring started. Much easier, being that the cost of living in Texas is much lower.

Chris: Well… with bands and music in general, it’s always hit or miss, but with any band it’s all about how hard you work to promote yourself. We had been playing around M.I. a lot before we had a complete set and people really enjoyed it, not just getting the typical compliments, but the more in depth ones, where we could actually tell it was sincere. They would describe certain aspects of the songs that they really liked. It was obviously very inspiring to have great feedback so early on. I knew from then, that as long as we all worked hard and put in the time that we could definitely make things happen.

Chris: We haven’t really experienced that. We have played all types of shows from indy shows to black metal and always seem to win over the crowd. I don’t know what it is that we have, but I’m glad we have it and people dig it, haha. So far so good.

Chris: Our goal isn’t really to tour with just bands on Prosthetic, but like I mentioned earlier, we play all types of shows to the most extreme metal forms. So we are up for any tour that comes up. I think the best band to tour with from Prosthetic would be Gojira though, those guys write some awesome metal!

Chris: The album is all finished. It sounds amazing and we are very proud of this one. It has a lot more dynamics and structured song writing than “Monument” had. I can’t wait for people to hear the entire thing. Also, I can’t reveal the track listing just yet, will be soon though!

Chris: We are a very organic and nature themed band, not really by choice. It sort of just happened on its own. The main goal for “Carving Desert Canyons” wasn’t to write it as a theme album, more to just write some good songs that we were all proud of, with great organization and more dynamics, like I mentioned earlier. Also for the guitars to be a lot more hard-hitting and heavy.

Chris: I don’t think there was really to much relaxed feel on “Monument” other than the intro to “Crossing The Ocean”. We all thought that album was more on the spastic/unorganized side of things. This album is going to have a lot more different stuff on it though. Some relaxed, some not at all, definitely getting some curve balls indeed!

Chris: Me and Travis started the band to be all instrumental, the first and foremost reason is simply just because we didn’t want one. I think the only way to be truly successful is to put 100% into it and then run with it, like we have been doing since day one. Definitely pushing it hard, having only existed for just 3 years. Instrumental is where its at for us, we really enjoy writing it, obviously a big challenge. Its a lot harder to write an instrumental album to be full without vocals.

Chris: No, I don’t see that ever happening. Not really something I see working out. I’m sure all of us will dabble in other projects over the next years to come, that could consist of a vocalist.

Yeah, definitely. I don’t consider us just a metal band. We of course have a metallic sound, do to the obvious distorted and heavy guitars. We actually crafted up a better descriptive word for our sound, while still classfying us in metal, which is Adventure Metal. We have always been told that our music takes our fans on a journey, so it just works and its nice to sort of have our own thing. I personally like to tell people that we play very progressive instrumental music, so that they aren’t turned away by the word “Metal”. Plus, a lot of people that like our music, don’t necessarily listen to metal and wouldn’t classify us there due to us not having a screamer. I don’t like playing the genre game. I think, if you like the band, you like them. Who cares what genre they should be in. Its an endless argument most of the time anyway, haha.

Chris: Cynic, Dream Theater, Mastodon, Necrophagist, and Opeth

Chris: Death, Bear Vs. Shark, The Beloved, Jason Becker, CKY (I think is inactive?)

Chris: First off, thanks for having me! And thanks to everyone that took the time out to read this! Make sure to pick up a copy of “Carving Desert Canyons” when it comes out on Feb 17th, if you dig what you hear!