ANIMALS AS LEADERS

Finally giving this a proper listen-thru after who knows how long, this is the 2009 debut by [will-be] Prog Metal group Animals As Leaders, Tosin Abasi then sole member. Animals As Leaders was co-produced with and supplemented with drum programming and other seasonings by Periphery founder Misha Mansoor (he also has writing credits for the whole album). These two, as things seemed to go, were most responsible for bringing the sonic intensity of a not totally nonexistent Prog Metal subgenre--hold your applause--Djent to more ears. Where Meshuggah a decade before mastered a certain rhythmic complexity, Animals As Leaders brought both that and confident, how-to melodicism to their music. In that vein, I find pretty interesting from 'where' Djent literally came for both Abasi and Mansoor: Progressive Metalcore. This can be seen with highest clarity as simply a major part of Periphery's sound. And Tosin Abasi was not only in Reflux prior, but Animals came off the heels of touring/performing with Born Of Osiris. Ultimately, I wouldn't know about AAL until their 2014 third album, The Joy Of Motion, one which I'm most positively anxious to get to some time hereafter.

This debut begins with a most classic track from this era, "Tempting Time". The introductory electronic percussion is very classic Alt Metal to me. Wicked fast track, Tosin coming in with liquid-lightning melodies and expected heavy chugs. Love the bridge section beginning as we near 2:00, there featuring a proper guitar solo. The next section is glassy and beautiful, the sort of Prog Metal melodicism that they carry on throughout their discography. "Soraya" is next, following the one AAL archetype of a predominantly melodic track, which sometimes reads as owing directly from Jazz [Guitar] Fusion. Coming from them, not a track I generally recall. A title I hardly recognize at this point follows, "Thoroughly at Home", which just feels like the sort of title an early-00s Math Rock band would come up with. But this is classic post-Progressive-Metalcore djenting, through and through. Brutal and relentless, my mind is drawn to the fact these drums are programmed; it just sounds so good somehow, not like this is the cleanest possible mix. Plenty of memorable moments feel a tad lost in the general scheme of things, an issue I've had with contemporaries Scale The Summit. The main riff is very cool and the solo of all things is a highlight.

Clean guitar opens up "On Impulse", a light, lightly etheric arpeggio. And here, after a cool 16-bit-ish drum machine fill, we have a marriage of Math Rock and Heavy Metal. And I straight-up hear Scale The Summit in this as we approach the end. Great track, for sure. Whether good or bad, it has felt 'dated'. Next is a bright, yet somewhat wary minute-long interlude of sorts, "Tessitura". I can't say it serves that purpose though, "Behaving Badly" being totally unrelated. The latter track also gave me mathy vibes, darkened in this context, and ever propelled forward by the 'rhythm section'; a defining moment for the album. One I remember well is "The Price of Everything and the Value of Nothing", another defined by Tosin's Fusion influences. I feel the modern 808s here in its bridge and elsewhere compliment these styles well. Next is one I was excited to hear with new ears, "Cafo", a surefire modern classic of the genre. Monstrous chugs and tense 8-string arpeggios define this'n. Prog Metal hype song and the solo is delectable.

A perfect choice to follow "Cafo" is "Inamorata", another heavy near-death-blow. Is it Djent or is it Instrumental Melodic Death Metal? The lows are deep, deep lows. Another track where the modern electronic percussion and, later on, chiptune(?) sparkles are coming through with perfect confidence. "Point to Point" is the first of two ~2 minute numbers before the closer. Despite this timeframe, they deliver one of the finest pieces of music on the album, another with distinct (again, glassy and bright) melody, but later with metallic heft. Check it. On the second shorty, "Modern Meat", cleaner still, Tosin's full 8-string sounds(?) acoustic. I think, especially for an approach to the end, this is a fantastic (kind of) choice. Finally, we get the Biblically erotic "Song of Solomon", initially still in that cleaner, even acoustic tone. Once the heavier instrumentation comes in, it is a full blast ahead. Excellent closer.

Great debut, but the best is truly yet to come in my opinion. I'm just happy this was also another learning experience for me, to find out more about a band I've loved for so long and have gratefully seen live.