Animals as Leaders
Instrumental progressive metal band from Washington D.C.
Animals as Leaders is an American instrumental progressive metal band that originated in 2007 as a solo project by guitarist Tosin Abasi.[1] Abasi coined the name as a reminder "that we're all essentially animals".[2]
Quick Facts
- Origin
- Washington D.C., U.S.
- Genre
- Progressive metal
- djent
- instrumental rock
- jazz fusion
- Years active
- 2007–present
- Label
- Sumerian; Prosthetic
- Current members
- Tosin Abasi
- Javier Reyes
- Matt Garstka
- Past members
- Chebon Littlefield
- Matt Halpern
- Navene Koperweis
Facts from the source article.
Making and release
Abasi initially declined, feeling such an endeavor would be "egotistical and unnecessary"[3] He then took a year off to study music, feeling he was unable to reach his peak at guitar playing.[3] The project's first album was recorded in early 2008.[4] Abasi recorded most guitar and bass tracks on the album.[2]
Engineer Misha Mansoor programmed drums, synth drums, and glitchy sounds for the recording.[2] Following the breakup of his earlier metalcore group Reflux, Tosin Abasi started Animals as Leaders.[5] After seeing Abasi's guitar playing, Prosthetic Records approached him about producing a solo record for them.[5] Once his music studies were finished, Abasi accepted the label's proposal.[3]
The second LP, Weightless, came out on November 8, 2011, in the US.[6]
What the cited sources add
The same source confirms the name was chosen to remind that "we're all essentially animals"[2] In that same conversation, Abasi expressed his desire to devote part of the year to writing the record and, ideally, to finish recording it before the year ends.[7]
References
- Wikipedia, "Animals as Leaders" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Angle, "Interview: Meshuggah Guitarist Fredrik Thordendal Answers Reader Questions", Guitar World, July 23, 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Allyn, "Q&A: Animals as Leaders", Washington City Paper, February 9, 2009. facts only, no text reused. washingtoncitypaper.com
- Wikipedia, "Animals as Leaders" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Allyn, "Q&A: Animals as Leaders", Washington City Paper, February 9, 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Animals as Leaders" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Allyn, "Q&A: Animals as Leaders", Washington City Paper, February 9, 2009; "ANIMALS AS LEADERS Unveils Artwork, Track Listing For Debut Album", blabbermouth.net, October 17, 2009 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Animals as Leaders" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Introducing Tosin Abasi: 8 strings guitar genius", FaChords Guitar, 2017; Buchta, "Interview with Animals as Leaders guitarist Tosin Abasi", Pure Grain Audio, February 14, 2011 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Animals as Leaders" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: wookubus, "Animals As Leaders Set November Release Date For New Album "Weightless"", Theprp.com, September 1, 2011; Zyglrob, "Animals as Leaders: new album release date announced", got-djent.com (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Animals as Leaders" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: ""We're guitar players. The reason we're designing gear is we're making things that we wish existed": Tosin Abasi is pushing the boundaries of progressive music and guitar gear on multiple fronts – and he's got no plans (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Animals as Leaders (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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