Animals As Leaders

Animals As Leaders began in 2007 as a solo project by guitarist Tosin Abasi after his previous metalcore band, Reflux, disbanded. Prosthetic Records approached Abasi to create a solo album due to his guitar work. After initially declining, Abasi spent a year studying music to enhance his skills. He then accepted the offer, and the band’s name was inspired by Daniel Quinn’s 1992 novel *Ishmael*, serving as a reminder that “we’re all essentially animals.” The project’s first album, *Animals as Leaders*, was recorded in early 2008, with Abasi handling most guitar and bass tracks, and engineer Misha Mansoor assisting with guitar solos, drums, and synthesized effects. The album was released on April 28, 2009, by Prosthetic Records.

The band toured extensively in 2010, including appearances on the Summer Slaughter Tour alongside acts such as Decapitated and The Faceless. Later that year, they released a non-album digital single titled “Wave of Babies.” In 2011, Animals As Leaders opened for bands like Underoath and Thrice, and headlined their own tour. They also released their second LP, *Weightless*, on November 8, 2011, in the United States. In March 2012, Navene Koperweis departed the band, and Matt Garstka joined as the new drummer, demonstrating the band’s continued evolution and adaptation. The departure of Koperweis and the arrival of Garstka marked a significant personnel change for the group.

In 2014, Animals As Leaders released their third studio album, *The Joy of Motion*, through Sumerian Records, which achieved significant commercial success, climbing to number 23 on the Billboard 200. This album sold 50,000 units in the US. Their fourth studio album, *The Madness of Many*, followed in 2016, also released by Sumerian Records, further solidifying their position in the progressive metal scene. In 2021, they released “Monomyth” as a single, later sampled by JPEGMafia. Their fifth album, *Parrhesia*, was released on March 25, 2022. As of February 2025, Tosin Abasi announced plans for pre-production on a new album, aiming to record it by the end of the year.