Animals as Leaders
Animals as Leaders | |
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Animals as Leaders performed live |
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General information | |
origin | Washington, DC , United States |
Genre (s) | Progressive Metal , Djent |
founding | 2007 |
Website | www.animalsasleaders.org |
Current occupation | |
Tosin Abasi | |
Electric guitar, electric bass
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Javier Reyes |
Matt Garstka | |
former members | |
E-bass, keyboard
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Chebon Littlefield |
Drums, keyboard |
Navene Koperweis |
Drums |
Matt Halpern |
Animals as Leaders is an American progressive metal band founded in 2007 by guitarist Tosin Abasi. The name of the band is derived from the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn .
history
After Tosin Abasi's band Reflux broke up, Prosthetic Records suggested he record a solo album because of his guitar skills. Tosin initially declined the offer, considering it unnecessary and selfish to start a solo career. When the reflux finally broke up, he accepted the offer. Together with Misha Mansoor from Periphery they created the self-titled album Animals as Leaders , which was released on August 28, 2009 via Prosthetic Records. During the recording, Tosin Abasi took over both the guitar and the bass and with the help of Misha Mansoor the remaining parts for drums and keyboard were added via computer program and synthesizer .
For live performances, Tosin put together a fixed line-up of Javier Reyes, Chebon Littlefield and Navene Koperweis. In March 2012, Navene Koperweis left the band to devote more time to his solo projects. Matt Garstka was brought into the band as the new drummer.
style
The band's style is difficult to pinpoint as some of the band's songs are acoustic while others contain heavy riffs . The band describes the style on their Myspace page as experimental progressive metal. Another specialty of the band is that their music is purely instrumental. The band works a lot with polyrhythms and complicated harmonies. In addition, the two guitarists primarily use eight-string electric guitars , which gives their sound even more depth and variability. In individual songs Abasi also uses a nine-string guitar. In their music there are influences from metal , jazz and prog . Parts of their music can also be ascribed to the djent .
Discography
Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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Albums | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Albums
- 2009: Animals as Leaders
- 2011: Weightless
- 2014: The Joy of Motion
- 2015: Animals as Leaders - Encore Edition
- 2016: The Madness of Many
Live albums
- 2018: Animals as Leaders - Live 2017
Singles
- 2009: Wave of Babies
Web links
- Official website
- Animals as Leaders on Sumerian Records
- Animals as Leaders on the baby blue pages
- Animals as Leaders at Discogs (English)
- Animals as Leaders at laut.de
swell
- ↑ Interview with Tosin Abasi on washingtoncitypaper.com; Retrieved August 30, 2010
- ↑ US chart history (Billboard)