Animals As Leaders

About Animals As Leaders

Animals As Leaders started as a solo project that accidentally became one of the most technically absurd guitar acts in modern metal. Tosin Abasi was the guitarist for a Washington D.C. metalcore band called Reflux that went nowhere, and after they folded, he started writing instrumental progressive metal on his own. Prosthetic Records heard the demos and offered to release an album if he could get it recorded. He brought in Misha Mansoor from Periphery to help produce and program drums, and the self-titled debut came out in 2009.

That first album established the template. Abasi played an 8-string guitar through a clean tone that made every note visible, no distortion to hide behind. The compositions were dense and polyrhythmic, closer to math rock than traditional metal, but heavy enough to keep one foot in the genre. Cafo became the calling card, a song that guitar players immediately tried to learn and then gave up on. It proved instrumental prog metal could hold attention without a vocalist, which wasn't a given.

The live shows required actual band members, so Abasi recruited Javier Reyes on second guitar and Navene Koperweis on drums. By the time Weightless dropped in 2011, they'd become a proper touring unit. That album leaned harder into jazz fusion influences, with songs like An Infinite Regression showing Abasi's interest in Allan Holdsworth and other fusion weirdos. Koperweis left after that cycle, replaced by Matt Garstka, a drummer with the chops to match the guitar pyrotechnics.

The Joy of Motion in 2014 was the commercial peak. Physical Education and The Brain Dance got them onto bigger tours and into conversations outside the prog metal bubble. Garstka's drumming added a new dimension, more dynamic and less mechanical than the programmed stuff on the debut. The album balanced accessibility with complexity in a way that actually worked, which is harder than it sounds when you're playing in 17/16 or whatever.

The Madness of Many came in 2016 and pushed further into experimental territory. Tempting Time and Arithmophobia were less about shred showcases and more about texture and mood. Some fans missed the earlier directness, but it showed a band trying to evolve past the technical exercise phase.

They've slowed down since then. Parrhesia came out in 2022 after a six-year gap, their longest between albums. It felt like a band settling into what they are rather than chasing new territory. The Brain Dance reprise threads connected it to earlier work, almost self-referential.

These days they're an established name in a very specific niche. They tour regularly, headline prog metal festivals, and maintain a dedicated following of musicians and gear nerds. Abasi has his own guitar company now. They're not trying to break into arenas, just doing the most difficult version of instrumental rock anyone's willing to attempt.

Animals As Leaders shows are dense, focussed experiences. The crowd tends toward musicians and serious listeners who actually track the time signatures. There's an intensity that comes from watching people execute this level of technical material live without a net. Energy builds through precision rather than spectacle.

Known for Tempting Time, An Infinite Regression, The Brain, Cafo, Lippincott

See Animals As Leaders Live