The group's first EP, entitled It All Begins with One Broken Dream, was released in 2001 through Dark Vision Records, but their inaugural full-length, Counting Hallways to the Left, arrived only in 2005 through Abacus. Vocalists Jesse Alford and Pat Piccolo, guitarists Joel Adams and Kyle Dixon, bassist Ryan Lewis, and drummer Bart Mullis subsequently endured several touring slogs across the U.S., but this clearly took a toll since only Alford and Mullis were still willing to carry on with Embrace the End by the time they returned to California. Nevertheless, they somehow managed to secure a new record deal with Century Media, and the resulting sophomore album, Ley Lines, was recorded with the help of guitarist Chris McMahon and bassist Addison Quarles, and showed Embrace the End becoming increasingly adventurous by fusing math-metal intensity into their already technical metallic hardcore. ~ Eduardo Rivadavia