move to Houston with them instead of basing the band in Los Angeles. Letchford later explained that despite enjoying the area's natural beauty he felt the music scene in Los Angeles was too crowded and difficult to survive in. The band's formation was temporarily threatened by Levrier finding work for a band called Into the Moat, which he considered joining permanently, but Letchford sent him a demo recording of the song "Omni" (a song that would appear on the band's debut album, Monument), and Levrier changed his mind. Into the Moat disbanded in spite of touring with acts such as Between the Buried and Me and The Black Dahlia Murder. Levrier coined the name "Scale the Summit" when he perused a photography book and saw a picture titled "The Summit", and mentioned the name as soon as it came to mind; the group took the name immediately. Releases and success (2008–present) Scale the Summit's first release was a demo that they personally handed-out at shows in limited quantities, and their first album, Monument, was self-funded and self-released. Letchford was dismissive of the album's sound, which he considered inferior to those of the group's later albums as the group had had little experience in songwriting by that time and limited funds for the sessions. In 2009 they signed with Prosthetic Records and began working on their second album, Carving Desert Canyons. Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater heard the band's music and invited them to tour with Dream Theater on the 2009 ProgNation Tour. In 2010, they toured North America in support of Between the Buried and Me, and recorded their third album, The Collective, which they released the following year. Also in 2011, the band toured with Periphery and Fair to Midland, The Human Abstract, Cynic, 3, Protest the Hero, Last Chance to Reason, Volumes, Structures, Rings of Saturn, and The Contortionist. In April 2012, Jordan Eberhardt left the band, citing his reluctance to continue touring full-time; he was replaced by Mark Michell. In November 2012, Letchford announced that the band had started writing material for their fourth album, The Migration, which was released on June 11 the following year. In March 2015, Pat Skeffington left the band and was replaced by J.C. Bryant, who wrote and recorded the drums for the band's fifth studio album, titled V and which was released on September 18, 2015. In August 2016, Travis LeVrier