Scale The Summit

Scale the Summit, an instrumental heavy metal outfit, first took shape in 2004 when guitarists Chris Letchford and Travis LeVrier crossed paths as students at the Los Angeles Musicians Institute. There they connected with another enrollee, drummer Pat Skeffington, and several months afterward bassist Jordan Eberhardt rounded out the quartet. The next two years were devoted to intensive rehearsals and sonic refinement, after which, late in 2006, the entire group moved to Letchford’s native Houston, Texas. There they finalized their intricate “adventure metal” sound—self-described—and issued a self-financed debut album titled Monument. The record’s blend of progressive ambition, echoing Cynic, Dream Theater, and Kong, with instrumental prowess recalling Joe Satriani and Steve Vai quickly drew praise from leading heavy metal publications. That attention secured a deal with Prosthetic Records in Los Angeles and prompted work on the follow-up, Carving Desert Canyons, which appeared in early 2009. Two further collections of technical guitar work arrived as The Collective in 2011 and The Migration in 2013, succeeded by the fifth studio effort, V, in 2015. By the 2017 release In a World of Fear, nearly all founding members had departed; most prominently, co-guitarist LeVrier exited to join Entheos, leaving Letchford to steer the band alongside new bassist Killian Duarte and drummer Charlie Engen.