This is Scale the Summit's 3rd studio album, The Collective. In a contrast to the constantly upbeat mood of their previous album, Carving Desert Canyons, The Collective has a darker and more serious feel to it.
1. Colossal [3:48]
2. Whales [6:28]
3. Emersion [2:33]
4. The Levitated [3:02]
5. Secret Earth [3:38]
6. Gallows [4:33]
7. Origin of Species [2:45]
8. Alpenlow [3:58]
9. Black Hills [7:59]
10. Balkan [3:44]
11. Drifting Figures [3:10]
It's hard to describe, but suffice to say everything about this album is less 'in your face' and more laid back than Carving Desert Canyons. It doesn't make it better or worse, just different. Colossal immediately sets the tone of The Collective as a whole, with its somber guitar melody mixed into Scale The Summit's already characteristic drumming and definitive guitar playing style. Whales is much more experimental in terms of Scale The Summit's style, with a blend of both soaring guitar arpeggios with very technical drumming, and slow ambient guitar combined with easy-going drums. The main chorus is a little grating, with the over-repetitive use of one chord, over and over.
Gallows and Alpenglow are other great examples of how Scale the Summit has changed and matured since their last album, while Emersion and Black Hills are both instances of how a band can both create a new feel, while not losing what already sets them apart from other bands.
My main complaint with The Collective is the same one I had with Carving Desert Canyons; there's not enough variety to distinguish tracks from one another. The Collective is certainly a step in the right direction, as Carving Desert Canyons felt like one long song, but if you take a 10 second snippet from any track, 4 times out of 5 you'll probably not be able to confidently say which track it belongs to. Honestly though, and I said this for Carving Desert Canyons too, the music is so well structured and sounds so nice, that I just need to shut up and enjoy it.
Final Score:
85/100
No comments:
Post a Comment