The origins of instrumental heavy metal group Scale the Summit date to 2004, when guitarists Chris Letchford and Travis LeVrier met as students at the Los Angeles Musicians Institute, then came into contact with fellow scholar and drummer Pat Skeffington, before completing their lineup with bassist Jordan Eberhardt several months later. Two years of rehearsal and sonic self-discovery followed until, at the end of 2006, all of the musicians relocated to Letchford's hometown of Houston, Texas and finished sculpting their exceptionally technical brand of "adventure metal," as they like to call it, for release on a self-financed debut album, immodestly named Monument. Turns out their confidence was largely justified by the impressive amalgam of progressive exploration (think Cynic, Dream Theater, Kong) and sheer virtuosity (reminiscent of instrumental guitar heroes like Joe Satriani and Steve Vai), and it wasn't long before Scale the Summit were racking up accolades from some of the world's most respected heavy metal magazines. This also earned them a contract with L.A.'s Prosthetic Records, and a return to the studio for the recording of the group's eagerly anticipated sophomore album, Carving Desert Canyons, which was released at the start of 2009. The band returned in 2011 with its third album of technical guitar wizardry, The Collective, followed by The Migration (2013) and their aptly named fifth studio outing, V (2015). By the time of 2017's In a World of Fear album, most of Scale the Summit's original lineup had turned over. Most notable was the departure of founding guitarist LeVrier, who left to become a member of Entheos, leaving Letchford to lead the band with newcomers Killian Duarte and Charlie Engen on bass and drums, respectively. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia