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ANIMALS AS LEADERSAnimals As LeadersTech/Extreme Prog Metal4.01 | 312 ratings |
From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website
dtguitarfan
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Animals as Leaders is one of those bands that completely took me by surprise. I've heard a lot of
extraordinary music, and plenty of mediocre music, but no matter who told me these guys were
amazing, I wouldn't have been prepared for what was to come. They are completely unique - I'd
describe their style as "Progressive Jazz/Metal/Techno Fusion". Or something like that. Perhaps
the most amazing thing about this band is that there are only 3 members, and no bassist. They are
strictly instrumental. The lead guitarist of the band, Tosin Abasi, has developed a unique style of
guitar playing where he combines guitar playing techniques with bass playing techniques, and
employes the use of an 8 stringed guitar that has a bass string or two. I highly recommend looking
up Tosin Abasi on youtube sometime ? it will be one of the most amazing musical feats you've ever
witnessed, I promise. When I listen to Animals as Leaders, I find it hard to go back to listening
to anyone else - this music is so beautifully complex that after hearing it everything else seems
less amazing, and often I must listen to something simplistic and soothing to sort of cleanse the
palette, if you will. In this, their first album, Animals as Leaders has this amazing method of building up an agressive soundscape filled with dirty heavy riffs and dissonance that builds and crescendos until you almost can't take it, and then all of a sudden they abbruptly pull back, shocking the listener with the beautiful contrast. The technicality of the riffage is simply astounding, and Tosin Abasi pulls off feats of musicality that I never thought possible. Behind all of this, drummer Navene Koperweis astounds with his layering, thunderous rhythm section. This album is one of those albums where I found that on first listen, certain songs stood out to me while others I didn't like so much, but after subsequent listens my perspective would change and I would have new favorites after each listen. This album is a perspective changing masterpiece.
dtguitarfan |
5/5 |
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