Animals as Leaders

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Animals as Leaders
Animals as Leaders performed live
Animals as Leaders performed live
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
Javier Reyes
Matt Garstka
former members
E-bass, keyboard
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
Albums
Weightless
  US 92 11/26/2011 (1 week)
Joy of Motion
  US 23 04/12/2014 (2 weeks)
The Madness of Many
  US 56 03/12/2016 (1 week)

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

swell

  1. ↑ Interview with Tosin Abasi on washingtoncitypaper.com; Retrieved August 30, 2010
  2. ↑ US chart history (Billboard)