There is perhaps no better slogan in rock music than ‘Strings Are Voices,’ the maxim adopted by Texas-based instrumental prog outfit Scale The Summit, because it’s not easy to make it as an instrumental rock band. It is an extra special challenge to create concise and emotive rock songs with nothing but strings and percussion to tell the story.

In a style often maligned for self-indulgence and affectation, Scale The Summit have found a blissful space between musicality and technical fireworks—that is, they focus entirely on the songs, leaving their egos behind and using their collective virtuosity only as a means to say what they want to say.

“The most compliments we get are that we’re not just a guitar wizardy band,” explains guitarist and lead songwriter Chris Letchford. “Yeah, our stuff is really complex, technical music, but it’s still not over-the-top, shred-based. That would push a lot of people away.”

Letchford and his mates’ commitment to melody results in a particularly thoughtful atmosphere on their 2011 full-length, The Collective, released via Prosthetic Records. The band is triumphant—anthemic even—when they play heavy, but they’re also sparse and subdued in the right places. “I think we’ve found that perfect medium…