Animals As Leaders

Animals As Leaders are a 3 piece progressive metal band from Washington, D.C consisting of members; Tosin Abasi (Guitar), Javier Reyes (Guitar) and Navene Koperweis (Drums). They are signed to Prosthetic Records and the band are entirely instrumental meaning that they use no vocals in any of their material. Their style is very unique as it mixes aspects of smooth jazz and heavy metal. These genres are obviously on two completely different sides of the musical spectrum but do compliment each other when used in the band. Also due to the tone of the guitars, the music is often referred to as 'Djent'. The basic and understandable way to describe Djent is a type of sound used in metal which is achieved by using low tunings and EQ'ing out low mids and boosting high mids where the pick attack can be heard. This tone can be described as aggressive, yet bouncy. The sound was originally used by Swedish metal band 'Meshuggah' but over recent years more metal bands have started to use it. One of the first things that you may notice about the bands line up is that there isn't a bassist. This is due to the type of guitars that the band plays with. Both Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes use 8 string guitars and tune their top strings down from F# to E. This E note is the same as note as the top string of a standard 4 string bass and therefore gives no reason as to having a bassist in the band. Animals As Leaders have 2 albums out to this day. One is their debut self titled 'Animals As Leaders' and their second is called 'Weightless'. The interesting thing about Animals As Leaders is that the whole first album was written purely by the lead guitarist Tosin Abasi before the line up was even formed. Tosin wrote everything for the debut himself and partnered with Periphery guitarist Misha Mansoor to record his material. This including the use of programmed drums. The band was not fully formed until the album was released and the songs were ready to play to a live audience. The band are best known for their guitarist of Tosin Abasi and his incredible guitar playing skills although the majority of their fan base will be people who spend a lot of time around instruments and musical studies as those people would be the ones who appreciate it more. Animals as Leaders use intense and complex time signatures and mind boggling sweeps to draw in their listeners. One song in particular stands out the most and that is the best known; 'CAFO'.

CAFO is approximately 6 and a half minutes long which is particularly long to keep somebody occupied. To achieve maximum interest in the song the verses are split into sections or slices where time signatures and techniques vary. For example; the first verse has a complex 5/4 sweeping pattern playing under a lead riff. This automatically grabs the listeners attention as it is fast, in your face and an excellent hook. During the next verse the next riff is then played in a different time signature with a heavy chug and tapping lead. With so many different things going on at once the brain has plenty of things to think about and this is one of the many things that makes this song in particular so enjoyable to listen too.