Animals as Leaders – Teeth of the Divine

Animals as Leaders – Animals as Leaders

John Gnesin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 13:04:27 +0000

As the story goes, when Prosthetic Records asked D.C. – based guitar virtuoso Tosin Abasi to record a solo album based on his performances with his former band Reflux, the artist demurred as such a project would be ‘egotistical’. Here then, is his solo project under the band name, Animals as Leaders, on which Abasi plays all the guitar and bass tracks with engineer Misha Mansoor filling in the blanks, programming drums and synth. What results is an interesting progression on the work of Cynic and it’s off-shoots, a wholly instrumental album that takes fusion metal a small step further, with a focused balance of melodicism and technicality. Mansoor’s drum programming is a key aspect, where it could be mistaken as natural at times, he incorporates just enough quick break-beats and loopy trip-hop rhythms to add an extra dimension to the swirling psychadelic nature of Abasi’s top-notch performance.

Taken as a whole, this self-titled debut begins with an easy flow in spite of it’s experimental attitude and unorthodox production. As the momentum consistently builds towards the album’s heavier moments, such as the excellent “The Price of Everything and The Value of Nothing” or “CAFO”; even the most metallic moments of the album are frequently tempered by, or interspersed with, layers of acoustic or clean guitar tracking and synths. If anything the atmosphere throughout the first half of the album reminds me more of a slightly more hyped up and electronica-infused version of Marty Friedman’s or Sean Malone’s new-agey solo works before progressing to more angular and abrupt fare reminiscent of the music of Don Caballero, Canvas Solaris, Behold…the Arctopus or Meshuggah’s Fredrik Thordendal. The dividing line in this dynamic progression could thus be measured by the point where one’s girlfriend goes “now this is nice” to when she asks you to turn down that racket.

Having not been all that familiar with Reflux, I have to say that whether one considers this a solo project or a band, Tosin Abasi is a very impressive musician and the structure of the record lends itself to sneakily influencing the listener to come in chin-strokingly impressed and leave cock-strokingly orgasmic over this man’s talent in both his performance on bass and guitar, as well as his compositional skill. And if you think that sounds gay, well let me just tell you, where I once described Dragonforce as ‘all wank and no jizz’, this debut album by Animals as Leaders is truly an orgasmic experience for fans of brilliant instrumental metal.

Animals As Leaders guitarist to join Summer Slaughter tour

Erik T — Tue, 19 May 2009 19:31:58 +0000

ANIMALS AS LEADERS GUITARIST DRAFTED FOR SUMMER SLAUGHTER

Tosin Abasi to join Born Of Osiris on “the most extreme tour of the year”

ANIMALS AS LEADERS guitarist Tosin Abasi will join Sumerian recording artists Born of Osiris on this year’s Summer Slaughter tour, which kicks of June 5 in Baltimore, Md. The seven-week traveling festival, co-headlined by Necrophagist and Suffocation, will serve as Abasi’s first national tour since his former band, Reflux, disbanded in 2005.

“I’m very excited to join these guys on stage and to see all the other great bands on Summer Slaughter,” Abasi says.

Earlier this year, Abasi returned to the spotlight with his new progressive instrumental project, ANIMALS AS LEADERS. The group’s self-titled debut, which was been hailed by MetalSucks as “intricate instru-metal of the highest caliber,” is a 12-track collection of guitar-driven progressive instrumentals with ambient and electronic influences, providing a scintillating showcase for one of the finest young guitarists in rock today.

“I definitely wanted to make an album that was ‘guitar-centric,’ but also interesting from other perspectives,” Abasi explains. He succeeded, as his dazzling performances on both 7- and 8-string guitars are flashy and technical, yet also tasteful and melodic.

Abasi recently conducted an extensive interview with AOL’s metal blog Noisecreep, where the Washington, D.C.-based guitarist discussed the rise in popularity of the 8-string guitar, his playing technique and what he’s trying to accomplish with ANIMALS AS LEADERS. That feature can be read here: http://www.noisecreep.com/2009/05/07/talking-guitar-with-animals-as-leaders-tosin/

Also, Abasi has unveiled two new video lessons in which he demonstrates his considerable talents. In addition to a performance snippet of one of the solo sections in “Tempting Time,” a track currently streaming on the ANIMALS AS LEADERS MySpace page, Abasi has also posted a clip called “Deconstructing ‘CAFO,'” in which he details how to play one of the ascending guitar lines to “CAFO,” another track from AAL’s self-titled debut. Both videos have been posted at www.myspace.com/animalsasleaders.

ANIMALS AS LEADERS SIGN TO PROSTHETIC RECORDS, SET APRIL RELEASE DATE

Erik T — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 15:05:26 +0000

Feb. 24, LOS ANGELES – Animals As Leaders, the Washington, D.C.-based instrumental/progressive band that features renowned eight-string guitarist Tosin Abasi (ex-Reflux), has signed with Prosthetic Records. The group’s self-titled debut is slated for an April 28 release, and an advance track, “Tempting Time,” is currently streaming on their MySpace page (www.myspace.com/animalsasleaders).
“Animals As Leaders is a guitar-driven, progressive instrumental project with ambient and electronic influences,” Abasi explains. “I definitely wanted to make an album that was ‘guitar-centric,’ but also interesting from other perspectives.
“‘Tempting Time’ loosely deals with some of the time-based societal pressures that come with getting older,” he continues. “It’s about reconciling your place in your life with where society feels like you should be, and understanding the finite amount of time you have in life to do anything.”
Animals As Leaders will perform at the New England Metal & Hardcore Festival on Apr. 18. Additional tour dates will follow.