Animals As Leaders: Parrhesia 12"
It might sound strange to associate "storytelling" with instrumental music. But Animals As Leaders jettisoned the rules, limitations, and boundaries of conventional rock music from the start. Armed with palette-expanding eight-string guitars, rich synths, and pummeling percussive grooves, the trio is beloved by metalheads, aspiring virtuosos, jazz fanatics, and casual listeners alike. Even without vocals, this is intimate, mythmaking music. The band's diverse catalog plays like multiple seasons of a superb television series, the shows with consistent themes and characters throughout their runs which evolve without sacrificing their most essential elements. Animals As Leaders began as a solo outlet for guitarist Tosin Abasi, whose creative partnership with classically trained guitarist / audio engineer Javier Reyes and Berklee-educated drummer Matt Garstka is built on a shared love of everything from fusion to technical death metal.
The band's ambitious fifth album, Parrhesia, arrives in a post-pandemic world after the longest stretch between Animals As Leaders albums since 2009's self-titled debut. Of course, the prog-metal onslaught of the band's early output was never without nuance, gradually expanding over the years with increasingly wondrous shades of melody and immersive ambiance. "Parrhesia isn't necessarily a reinvention, but it's a sharpening of the knife," Abasi explains. "It's a heavy album with an aim to make each song a clear musical statement. Where previous albums had acoustic guitars and electronic bits, this one skews back to the more aggressive end of the spectrum for us."
Parrhesia is the third album in the Animals As Leaders catalog produced by Misha Mansoor, a friend and contemporary best known as the founding member of Periphery. "We did The Madness of Many completely internally. I wanted to work with Misha again, as he was part of many of our quintessential songs, and I really like our collaboration," Abasi explains. "He produced five songs on this album and was also part of arrangement and songwriting sessions. In a way, he's like a silent fourth member." Album five is evidence that Animals As Leaders continue to operate at peak efficiency. "We've hit a certain stride," Abasi observes. "Matt brought a lot of complex ideas, there's a lot of thumping for me, and I've explored the use of harmony even more. Our sound is always evolving in a way that has a deliberate direction. We aim to give people different emotions than other types of music will offer."
Animals As Leaders offer more than clinic-ready musicianship and proficiency. A focus on mood, texture, and emotive power elevates the material past any preconceived notions, resulting in a fascinatingly unique phenomenon, with an unlikely and profound appeal across multiple subgenres.
The band's ambitious fifth album, Parrhesia, arrives in a post-pandemic world after the longest stretch between Animals As Leaders albums since 2009's self-titled debut. Of course, the prog-metal onslaught of the band's early output was never without nuance, gradually expanding over the years with increasingly wondrous shades of melody and immersive ambiance. "Parrhesia isn't necessarily a reinvention, but it's a sharpening of the knife," Abasi explains. "It's a heavy album with an aim to make each song a clear musical statement. Where previous albums had acoustic guitars and electronic bits, this one skews back to the more aggressive end of the spectrum for us."
Parrhesia is the third album in the Animals As Leaders catalog produced by Misha Mansoor, a friend and contemporary best known as the founding member of Periphery. "We did The Madness of Many completely internally. I wanted to work with Misha again, as he was part of many of our quintessential songs, and I really like our collaboration," Abasi explains. "He produced five songs on this album and was also part of arrangement and songwriting sessions. In a way, he's like a silent fourth member." Album five is evidence that Animals As Leaders continue to operate at peak efficiency. "We've hit a certain stride," Abasi observes. "Matt brought a lot of complex ideas, there's a lot of thumping for me, and I've explored the use of harmony even more. Our sound is always evolving in a way that has a deliberate direction. We aim to give people different emotions than other types of music will offer."
Animals As Leaders offer more than clinic-ready musicianship and proficiency. A focus on mood, texture, and emotive power elevates the material past any preconceived notions, resulting in a fascinatingly unique phenomenon, with an unlikely and profound appeal across multiple subgenres.
It might sound strange to associate "storytelling" with instrumental music. But Animals As Leaders jettisoned the rules, limitations, and boundaries of conventional rock music from the start. Armed with palette-expanding eight-string guitars, rich synths, and pummeling percussive grooves, the trio is beloved by metalheads, aspiring virtuosos, jazz fanatics, and casual listeners alike. Even without vocals, this is intimate, mythmaking music. The band's diverse catalog plays like multiple seasons of a superb television series, the shows with consistent themes and characters throughout their runs which evolve without sacrificing their most essential elements. Animals As Leaders began as a solo outlet for guitarist Tosin Abasi, whose creative partnership with classically trained guitarist / audio engineer Javier Reyes and Berklee-educated drummer Matt Garstka is built on a shared love of everything from fusion to technical death metal.
The band's ambitious fifth album, Parrhesia, arrives in a post-pandemic world after the longest stretch between Animals As Leaders albums since 2009's self-titled debut. Of course, the prog-metal onslaught of the band's early output was never without nuance, gradually expanding over the years with increasingly wondrous shades of melody and immersive ambiance. "Parrhesia isn't necessarily a reinvention, but it's a sharpening of the knife," Abasi explains. "It's a heavy album with an aim to make each song a clear musical statement. Where previous albums had acoustic guitars and electronic bits, this one skews back to the more aggressive end of the spectrum for us."
Parrhesia is the third album in the Animals As Leaders catalog produced by Misha Mansoor, a friend and contemporary best known as the founding member of Periphery. "We did The Madness of Many completely internally. I wanted to work with Misha again, as he was part of many of our quintessential songs, and I really like our collaboration," Abasi explains. "He produced five songs on this album and was also part of arrangement and songwriting sessions. In a way, he's like a silent fourth member." Album five is evidence that Animals As Leaders continue to operate at peak efficiency. "We've hit a certain stride," Abasi observes. "Matt brought a lot of complex ideas, there's a lot of thumping for me, and I've explored the use of harmony even more. Our sound is always evolving in a way that has a deliberate direction. We aim to give people different emotions than other types of music will offer."
Animals As Leaders offer more than clinic-ready musicianship and proficiency. A focus on mood, texture, and emotive power elevates the material past any preconceived notions, resulting in a fascinatingly unique phenomenon, with an unlikely and profound appeal across multiple subgenres.
The band's ambitious fifth album, Parrhesia, arrives in a post-pandemic world after the longest stretch between Animals As Leaders albums since 2009's self-titled debut. Of course, the prog-metal onslaught of the band's early output was never without nuance, gradually expanding over the years with increasingly wondrous shades of melody and immersive ambiance. "Parrhesia isn't necessarily a reinvention, but it's a sharpening of the knife," Abasi explains. "It's a heavy album with an aim to make each song a clear musical statement. Where previous albums had acoustic guitars and electronic bits, this one skews back to the more aggressive end of the spectrum for us."
Parrhesia is the third album in the Animals As Leaders catalog produced by Misha Mansoor, a friend and contemporary best known as the founding member of Periphery. "We did The Madness of Many completely internally. I wanted to work with Misha again, as he was part of many of our quintessential songs, and I really like our collaboration," Abasi explains. "He produced five songs on this album and was also part of arrangement and songwriting sessions. In a way, he's like a silent fourth member." Album five is evidence that Animals As Leaders continue to operate at peak efficiency. "We've hit a certain stride," Abasi observes. "Matt brought a lot of complex ideas, there's a lot of thumping for me, and I've explored the use of harmony even more. Our sound is always evolving in a way that has a deliberate direction. We aim to give people different emotions than other types of music will offer."
Animals As Leaders offer more than clinic-ready musicianship and proficiency. A focus on mood, texture, and emotive power elevates the material past any preconceived notions, resulting in a fascinatingly unique phenomenon, with an unlikely and profound appeal across multiple subgenres.
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$8.08Description
It might sound strange to associate "storytelling" with instrumental music. But Animals As Leaders jettisoned the rules, limitations, and boundaries of conventional rock music from the start. Armed with palette-expanding eight-string guitars, rich synths, and pummeling percussive grooves, the trio is beloved by metalheads, aspiring virtuosos, jazz fanatics, and casual listeners alike. Even without vocals, this is intimate, mythmaking music. The band's diverse catalog plays like multiple seasons of a superb television series, the shows with consistent themes and characters throughout their runs which evolve without sacrificing their most essential elements. Animals As Leaders began as a solo outlet for guitarist Tosin Abasi, whose creative partnership with classically trained guitarist / audio engineer Javier Reyes and Berklee-educated drummer Matt Garstka is built on a shared love of everything from fusion to technical death metal.
The band's ambitious fifth album, Parrhesia, arrives in a post-pandemic world after the longest stretch between Animals As Leaders albums since 2009's self-titled debut. Of course, the prog-metal onslaught of the band's early output was never without nuance, gradually expanding over the years with increasingly wondrous shades of melody and immersive ambiance. "Parrhesia isn't necessarily a reinvention, but it's a sharpening of the knife," Abasi explains. "It's a heavy album with an aim to make each song a clear musical statement. Where previous albums had acoustic guitars and electronic bits, this one skews back to the more aggressive end of the spectrum for us."
Parrhesia is the third album in the Animals As Leaders catalog produced by Misha Mansoor, a friend and contemporary best known as the founding member of Periphery. "We did The Madness of Many completely internally. I wanted to work with Misha again, as he was part of many of our quintessential songs, and I really like our collaboration," Abasi explains. "He produced five songs on this album and was also part of arrangement and songwriting sessions. In a way, he's like a silent fourth member." Album five is evidence that Animals As Leaders continue to operate at peak efficiency. "We've hit a certain stride," Abasi observes. "Matt brought a lot of complex ideas, there's a lot of thumping for me, and I've explored the use of harmony even more. Our sound is always evolving in a way that has a deliberate direction. We aim to give people different emotions than other types of music will offer."
Animals As Leaders offer more than clinic-ready musicianship and proficiency. A focus on mood, texture, and emotive power elevates the material past any preconceived notions, resulting in a fascinatingly unique phenomenon, with an unlikely and profound appeal across multiple subgenres.
The band's ambitious fifth album, Parrhesia, arrives in a post-pandemic world after the longest stretch between Animals As Leaders albums since 2009's self-titled debut. Of course, the prog-metal onslaught of the band's early output was never without nuance, gradually expanding over the years with increasingly wondrous shades of melody and immersive ambiance. "Parrhesia isn't necessarily a reinvention, but it's a sharpening of the knife," Abasi explains. "It's a heavy album with an aim to make each song a clear musical statement. Where previous albums had acoustic guitars and electronic bits, this one skews back to the more aggressive end of the spectrum for us."
Parrhesia is the third album in the Animals As Leaders catalog produced by Misha Mansoor, a friend and contemporary best known as the founding member of Periphery. "We did The Madness of Many completely internally. I wanted to work with Misha again, as he was part of many of our quintessential songs, and I really like our collaboration," Abasi explains. "He produced five songs on this album and was also part of arrangement and songwriting sessions. In a way, he's like a silent fourth member." Album five is evidence that Animals As Leaders continue to operate at peak efficiency. "We've hit a certain stride," Abasi observes. "Matt brought a lot of complex ideas, there's a lot of thumping for me, and I've explored the use of harmony even more. Our sound is always evolving in a way that has a deliberate direction. We aim to give people different emotions than other types of music will offer."
Animals As Leaders offer more than clinic-ready musicianship and proficiency. A focus on mood, texture, and emotive power elevates the material past any preconceived notions, resulting in a fascinatingly unique phenomenon, with an unlikely and profound appeal across multiple subgenres.
