people saying this band is technical for the sake of being technical..... the beautiful thing about this band is that they are the exact opposite! Nothing about this song feels forced, despite the odd time signatures it flows beautifully and is a true masterpiece in my eyes. The riffs are so memorable they just get stuck in your head. Its very much unlike most progressive metal and they deserve mad respect for that! the way they just mix all kinds of genres, how they continuously learn new guitar techniques and incorporate them in their new songs, it is truly unique, which is very rare, and i love it!
I agree, People will say anything to justify not behind this talented. A lot of people (most likely frustrated musicians) get very uncomfortable when someone else sets the bar this much high.
VEXARI Sad but true. I'm a musician and this guy blows my mind though I can't come close to him. This level of talent should be inspiring, not intimidating.
VEXARI Er, I don't know. True, people do feel threatened by such things, but in this case I think people just don't give AAL enough listens. It took me maybe 4 or 5 listens through the album before things started groovin', and before then, it did sound like randomness / unnecessary odd signatures / etc. Particularly in this song, at 00:58, I still don't hear it as fluidly as I'd like to, but hey, maybe it just takes 10 or 20 more listens!
LECKMICH What they really mean when they say this band is technical for the sake of being technical: "They are way more talented than I could ever dream of being and I am extremely jealous."
Deathmetalforever No. He's from my town. His parents own a candy store and they always give me gummy bears, but I don't like the red ones, so I give them to him. It's 'cuz I give him gummy bears, that's how come you know it's true.
This is my new favorite band - how did I go this long without this music?! The more you listen the more you find little gems buried in their music. Fantastic!
Showed this to my grade 12 music teacher, who has a master's degree in performance trumpet. He's definitely not a metal fan by any stretch. At first he gave it people's usual criticism of AAL on their first listen. That it's just technical but no feeling or creativity. Then a few days later he came to me and was like "I gave that band another few listens and I realized that they're actually pretty amazing." Thought it was pretty cool that I got him into a progressive metal band haha
Interesting how the second guitarist is emulating the bass yet retaining his position as the second guitarist. Dude has so much work to do in every song hahaha Just heard them for the first time today, and my God these guys are amazing Edit: they are both covering the bass parts ._.
They are geniuses. Modern day composers of music that will be admired in a way similar to that of popular classical composers such as Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven.
+Jared Szczesny Like no one knew what to do with Allan Holdsworth's transcendent genius-classification is pointless. Technicality can be stunningly beautiful, like Rachmaninov, or Beethoven's Hammerclavier.
When Hendrix started using feedback and going nuts, people didn't know what the hell was going on, when Zeppelin just started out, people didn't know what the hell they were doing. It's the same thing happening with these guys right now...
Mitchell jefferies your comment might be true for you and maybe even in a pop culture sense but for me and for music in general these guys are pushing boundaries that have never been attempted, musically (and in this specific way)
+Kinnzie Martin I agree with you...NO ONE sounds like aal...they are unique and are not only defying the rules of music they are redefining what music can be
Gabe Lube it's interesting that there exists a group of people who see something that another group of people like and it becoms their emediate goal to find something about that thing that they can try to downplay.. even if there isn't anything 😅
It isn't really technical for the sake of being technical. That's just how they write. It's not like these guys sit down and say "ok how can we make this annoyingly complex to everyone!" They just write what they write and what they enjoy playing, just like any other band who loves doing what they do.
I recently took a lesson with tosin and he basically said that word for word about their writing style...they have just listened to so much technical and abstract music all their life that technical, abstract music is what intrinsically comes out
One could not mistake their sound either. They sound almost completely original. I mean rhythms, harmonies, melodies, and instrument tones. They basically created their on copyright in the originality of their compositions.
It sounds that way to me.. I think this band is trash. Obnoxious distorted tones while playing some pseudo prog type progression with a bullshit "djent" riff underneath. Sorry to break it to you, but to most people this just sounds like a pretentious wank fest. Just some dudes trying really hard to impress other guitar nerds. Fuck this band
I can understand how people find it hard to get into AAL. I was like that at first. But with every listen, you recognize time and melody and realize that this is ART in it's most technical form. As a musician, this is what I want to hear. I saw someone's comment saying that AAL is music for musicians and that's completely true.
i dont know why people uses the excuse " too technical no emotion/creativity". being technical it is not related on creativity or feeling. in Fact, Animals As Leaders is a musical project full of innovation and creativity, it is full of feeling and emotion. personally i think that this music is full of color, textures, it breaks the limits of genres and music limitation, it is free of boundaries and it incorporates various music styles into one. as music it is the most complex and complete creations id heard. everyday we are exposed only to light, superficial music making this kind of music to sound very dense. i really invite people to hear this stuff it's amazing
I don't think it is fair to these guys that so many people are commenting on how they missed the whole point of music in general. Their artistic expression develops out of the complexities. Who are you to say how others should demonstrate their creativity?
-Ka$cade, Lippincott, Air Chrysalis, Another Year, Tooth and Claw, The Future That Awaited Me, and The Woven Web were all co-written by Misha Mansoor. -Physical Education, Crescent, and Mind-Spun were co-written by Diego Farias. -That leaves Para-Mexer and Nephele, both of which were purely Javier. AAL’s defining album? Fuck no, not with all those extra writers. Weightless is their best, with an even balance of dark and light, alien and fantasy. Don't shoot the messenger, just read the liner notes in the physical copy.
John Riddler John is right. Misha has had a really huge helping hand in both the first AAL album as well as weightless. I dont think there is a single band these days that completely coordinates every aspect of the music and its creation. Everything on the album would sound too similar if that was the case x.x
True, Misha did help with the first two albums, and he actually did help write the first, but did nothing at all on Weightless. A fair statement, Isaac. The first half was the message, the second half was my opinion. It would be interesting to read the liner notes and see that they rated their newest album behind their last release. Heh. Worst album? You say that as if they have a bad album. There's maybe two AAL songs I don't listen to and neither are from Weightless. A producer mixes and masters tracks. I've acted as a producer before but I never wrote another band's material with/for them. Even my producer, though he suggested a good many things, only helped to bring what my band wanted to fruition, while also cleaning it up and making it sound professional. A lot of bands that have a unique sound generally produce their own albums. Imagine if Led Zeppelin had a sit-in guy suggesting shit while Jimmy Page silently sat in the corner writing Achilles Last Stand by himself. Obviously, most bands don't do it themselves, but producers are not band members. They suggest small tidbits and wait for the artist's approval/denial, otherwise you're simply dictating their style.
PartyThrasher118 Are you seriously using Led Zeppelin as an example? That band has probably ripped off ideas from other bands and musicians the most in the history of rock and metal.
Even though this is showing off the guitars, the drummer is very good. A lot of it seems almost to be improv, almost like free-form Jazz kinda stuff. Love his play style.
NutsTesticles honest to god, I never heard of these guys. Clicked cause I am subscribed to the guitar center channel. I read all the comments n didn't c the comparison.
Vic Vil Dont worry, youre right to think that ass they are a huge influence to them. Actually opened for meshuggah last year with "Intronaut" I could just have all three of those bands tour again and i wouldnt complain
I know the bass parts aren't the focus of this band, but I would love it if they got a bass player. It would be so damn cool to see a bassist just grooving away and working with the drummer to have a tight as fuck rhythm section.
i really want to know what Tosin have to say about what music genre did they play i know they've been labeled as djent but AAL seem to be a little beyond than just a music genre. PD: i say this cause any other band labeled as djent i've heard so far doesn't sound anything like AAL so for me they aren't djent but something greater...
If there is a genre that they should fit into it should be called mood metal. It just flows from a metal stand point. While it definitely is very rhythmic it incorporates quite a bit of jazz fusion and classical textures that are very musical. I would to classify animals as leaders as the pat metheny group of metal.
people saying this band is technical for the sake of being technical..... the beautiful thing about this band is that they are the exact opposite! Nothing about this song feels forced, despite the odd time signatures it flows beautifully and is a true masterpiece in my eyes. The riffs are so memorable they just get stuck in your head. Its very much unlike most progressive metal and they deserve mad respect for that! the way they just mix all kinds of genres, how they continuously learn new guitar techniques and incorporate them in their new songs, it is truly unique, which is very rare, and i love it!
I'm just commenting to get this comment up. RUclips gives more visibility to stupid discussions full of replies
I agree,
People will say anything to justify not behind this talented.
A lot of people (most likely frustrated musicians) get very uncomfortable when someone else sets the bar this much high.
VEXARI
Sad but true. I'm a musician and this guy blows my mind though I can't come close to him. This level of talent should be inspiring, not intimidating.
VEXARI Er, I don't know. True, people do feel threatened by such things, but in this case I think people just don't give AAL enough listens. It took me maybe 4 or 5 listens through the album before things started groovin', and before then, it did sound like randomness / unnecessary odd signatures / etc. Particularly in this song, at 00:58, I still don't hear it as fluidly as I'd like to, but hey, maybe it just takes 10 or 20 more listens!
LECKMICH What they really mean when they say this band is technical for the sake of being technical: "They are way more talented than I could ever dream of being and I am extremely jealous."
Ghost notes done right.
That drummer is a clockwork beast.
One day I'm gonna be as good as him.
hes from my town. his parents own a music shop a couple miles down the road
Deathmetalforever No. He's from my town. His parents own a candy store and they always give me gummy bears, but I don't like the red ones, so I give them to him. It's 'cuz I give him gummy bears, that's how come you know it's true.
Joseph Weston can I have a red gummy bear?
well I like all the other colors, and he really likes the red ones, so it's a hard choice.
This is my new favorite band - how did I go this long without this music?! The more you listen the more you find little gems buried in their music. Fantastic!
Showed this to my grade 12 music teacher, who has a master's degree in performance trumpet. He's definitely not a metal fan by any stretch. At first he gave it people's usual criticism of AAL on their first listen. That it's just technical but no feeling or creativity. Then a few days later he came to me and was like "I gave that band another few listens and I realized that they're actually pretty amazing." Thought it was pretty cool that I got him into a progressive metal band haha
Yeah, he respects the talent now!
Your brain adjusts after a few listens when you first hear AAL.
It happened to me.
I'm sure your teacher also knows, that this isn't progressive metal, it's jazz with high gain.
kylafornia24 It isn't jazz at all really
Keenan Ruffin-El no but it has undeniable jazz influences.
Tom Lippincott basically taught me almost everything I know when it comes to theory and the guitar. Well deserved honestly.
Tosin is such a swag lord.
This is what the 3 guys in accounting do during their lunch break.
Physics
Oscar, Kevin, and Angela
As great as this album is its even more fun watching that guitar playing, makes you appreciate the work all the more.
That's the only reason I bothered watching it.
2:10 onwards is some of the grooviest, crazy playing I've heard.... Impossible not to rewatch endlessly
Interesting how the second guitarist is emulating the bass yet retaining his position as the second guitarist. Dude has so much work to do in every song hahaha
Just heard them for the first time today, and my God these guys are amazing
Edit: they are both covering the bass parts ._.
+Watta Mugen the power of the 8 string guitar ;) would love to get one of my own, but they're uhhh... kind of expensive :(
Do they use octaver? I overlooked that they have no bass player
The low strings on an 8 go down into the bass range.
LA Weekly has premiered "Lippincott" from our recent podcast with Animals As Leaders + Nic Harcourt. Check it out.
Eight string Guitar
This guitar has crisp high's Super fat low's
sick camera work and production btw, could pass as a video clip
Cool Backing Tracks it IS a music video.
I think this is the best Animals As Leaders song. Groove, melody, and complexity just blend perfectly
They are geniuses. Modern day composers of music that will be admired in a way similar to that of popular classical composers such as Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven.
+Jared Szczesny Like no one knew what to do with Allan Holdsworth's transcendent genius-classification is pointless. Technicality can be stunningly beautiful, like Rachmaninov, or Beethoven's Hammerclavier.
JeffreyMulac8 exactly.
Jared S I hope you are right goddamn it! haha
No they aren't and no they won't
you were a butthole 5 months ago.
When Hendrix started using feedback and going nuts, people didn't know what the hell was going on, when Zeppelin just started out, people didn't know what the hell they were doing. It's the same thing happening with these guys right now...
Tobee Paik except anyone who has listened to math rock can associate AAL with it. They're good and all but nothing ground breaking like hendrix
Mitchell jefferies your comment might be true for you and maybe even in a pop culture sense but for me and for music in general these guys are pushing boundaries that have never been attempted, musically (and in this specific way)
+Kinnzie Martin I agree with you...NO ONE sounds like aal...they are unique and are not only defying the rules of music they are redefining what music can be
Gabe Lube it's interesting that there exists a group of people who see something that another group of people like and it becoms their emediate goal to find something about that thing that they can try to downplay.. even if there isn't anything 😅
It isn't really technical for the sake of being technical. That's just how they write. It's not like these guys sit down and say "ok how can we make this annoyingly complex to everyone!" They just write what they write and what they enjoy playing, just like any other band who loves doing what they do.
I recently took a lesson with tosin and he basically said that word for word about their writing style...they have just listened to so much technical and abstract music all their life that technical, abstract music is what intrinsically comes out
One could not mistake their sound either. They sound almost completely original. I mean rhythms, harmonies, melodies, and instrument tones. They basically created their on copyright in the originality of their compositions.
Most of the "best bands/musicians" do that kind of thing. They usually pioneer a genre or are very difficult to assign a genre to.
LOL
It sounds that way to me.. I think this band is trash. Obnoxious distorted tones while playing some pseudo prog type progression with a bullshit "djent" riff underneath. Sorry to break it to you, but to most people this just sounds like a pretentious wank fest. Just some dudes trying really hard to impress other guitar nerds. Fuck this band
Tom is the greatest teacher I've ever had. Well deserved!
All three of them are fantastic...
I can understand how people find it hard to get into AAL. I was like that at first. But with every listen, you recognize time and melody and realize that this is ART in it's most technical form. As a musician, this is what I want to hear. I saw someone's comment saying that AAL is music for musicians and that's completely true.
Man this is tight as hell! They play excellence every time.
i dont know why people uses the excuse " too technical no emotion/creativity". being technical it is not related on creativity or feeling. in Fact, Animals As Leaders is a musical project full of innovation and creativity, it is full of feeling and emotion. personally i think that this music is full of color, textures, it breaks the limits of genres and music limitation, it is free of boundaries and it incorporates various music styles into one. as music it is the most complex and complete creations id heard.
everyday we are exposed only to light, superficial music making this kind of music to sound very dense. i really invite people to hear this stuff it's amazing
holy glaze
Amazing, first saw them live, addict since then
The beginning of the breakdown at 3:52 is so satisfying to watch. All synced up and grooving hard
I love where these guys are taking music.
WTF...Incredible! Hot Damn they can play!
Love this....Classical Scales delivered at approximately Warp Factor 5 I believe....
Literally incredible
This is one of my favorite tracks off this album, up there with the Woven Web. Very cool to see them play it live.
Lippincott is my teacher! awesome musician
Absolutely amazing!
f ing GREAT. Amazingly composed. Javier is a monster.
Completely insane performance!
im more impressed by the drummer than anything else lol
+Robert Breeden that's cause matt is a fucking beast haha
honestly, i never realized how good that guy is! Very impressive
LOVE Animals as Leaders
Matt's facial expressions are gold.
Straight drummer mouth lol any decent drummer all have their mouths open lol
The drummer face lives on!
dirty d in the house
What the drummer does in this 2:10 part is just so amazing!
Awesome!
I'd love such a video of CAFO too, Guitar Center always delivers such a good sound.
I don't think it is fair to these guys that so many people are commenting on how they missed the whole point of music in general. Their artistic expression develops out of the complexities. Who are you to say how others should demonstrate their creativity?
I love the fact that you can clearly see Matt (Drummer) being in the "zone", just feeling the groove and the music!
Now I don't feel so silly for wearing my guitar so high up. Thanks AAL!
amazing quality, some official music video level!!!
The drummer is absolutely amazing in this
This sounds like that which came from the seafloor church in the Lovecraft story.
Tom Lippincot teaches at Miami Dade Community College and FiU!! Awesome
Does Lippincott even know Tosin based a song off of him? lol
that was incredible.
Y'all are really good.That drummer is sick.
I love how they both have quirky ways to feel the groove.
Classic Guitar Center cutting away from the drummer during his solo bars at 2:28
Beautiful
That was freakin' awesome!
Flawless!
Javier, that guitar is CLEAN
Absolutely one of the sexiest Carvin/Kiesel DC800s out there. The other one being my future one. :)
Whooo!! Hell yeah!! That is one NASTY ASS riff!!!!
You guys rock!!! Awesome keep it up!!!
such a great inspiración!
Groovy as hell.
Is that Matt Gaustka on drums...Love his energy ..
Awesome ending !
These guys are from another planet. Where can I book a ticket?
Thats nice to have such piece named after you lol
The Best.
awesome!
the drummer is fucking killing it
brainstorming as always
Ah the music for musicians!
Unbelievable!!
The second verse is so moving. I love the line "Every time I stray/it reminds me when you say". Brilliant.
😂😅
Perfekt mix
credits to the amazing drumming!
Love Rockin' Tom's work :P
This is Genius....
This is insane!
YES AAL!
The drummer face is real!
-Ka$cade, Lippincott, Air Chrysalis, Another Year, Tooth and Claw, The Future That Awaited Me, and The Woven Web were all co-written by Misha Mansoor.
-Physical Education, Crescent, and Mind-Spun were co-written by Diego Farias.
-That leaves Para-Mexer and Nephele, both of which were purely Javier.
AAL’s defining album? Fuck no, not with all those extra writers.
Weightless is their best, with an even balance of dark and light, alien and fantasy.
Don't shoot the messenger, just read the liner notes in the physical copy.
You're not just a messenger if you include an opinion.
every band has people who help write songs.. ever wondered what a producer is there for?
John Riddler John is right. Misha has had a really huge helping hand in both the first AAL album as well as weightless. I dont think there is a single band these days that completely coordinates every aspect of the music and its creation. Everything on the album would sound too similar if that was the case x.x
True, Misha did help with the first two albums, and he actually did help write the first, but did nothing at all on Weightless.
A fair statement, Isaac. The first half was the message, the second half was my opinion. It would be interesting to read the liner notes and see that they rated their newest album behind their last release. Heh.
Worst album? You say that as if they have a bad album. There's maybe two AAL songs I don't listen to and neither are from Weightless.
A producer mixes and masters tracks. I've acted as a producer before but I never wrote another band's material with/for them. Even my producer, though he suggested a good many things, only helped to bring what my band wanted to fruition, while also cleaning it up and making it sound professional.
A lot of bands that have a unique sound generally produce their own albums. Imagine if Led Zeppelin had a sit-in guy suggesting shit while Jimmy Page silently sat in the corner writing Achilles Last Stand by himself. Obviously, most bands don't do it themselves, but producers are not band members. They suggest small tidbits and wait for the artist's approval/denial, otherwise you're simply dictating their style.
PartyThrasher118 Are you seriously using Led Zeppelin as an example? That band has probably ripped off ideas from other bands and musicians the most in the history of rock and metal.
Even though this is showing off the guitars, the drummer is very good. A lot of it seems almost to be improv, almost like free-form Jazz kinda stuff. Love his play style.
โอ้วสุดยอดมากๆ
Very Cool..
Not a musician, so I must ask... anybody else heard meshuggah in there?
the jokes getting old
NutsTesticles honest to god, I never heard of these guys. Clicked cause I am subscribed to the guitar center channel. I read all the comments n didn't c the comparison.
But your answers answers the quedtion. N n i enjoyed the song n imma download the cd.
Vic Vil Dont worry, youre right to think that ass they are a huge influence to them. Actually opened for meshuggah last year with "Intronaut" I could just have all three of those bands tour again and i wouldnt complain
Meshuggah are pretty much an unavoidable influence for any new Djent band, AAL are no exception.
Man, this ages well...
Watching Tosin pick the part at 2:55 is just creepy. It's like an alien playing the guitar or something, haha Idk... just sayin' it creeped me out
@ 2:22 -- when you first put it in!
Drummer face at 2:20.
i used this song for my mother spa relaxation
I know the bass parts aren't the focus of this band, but I would love it if they got a bass player. It would be so damn cool to see a bassist just grooving away and working with the drummer to have a tight as fuck rhythm section.
Could not have said it better myself! That was just what I was thinking throughout their performance!
I'm more into the groove metal than speed. Speed is great and all, but coherence is a big thing for me. This is definitely a neat track.
Just tried learning this on my new 8 string guitar...... well it's hard as hell
Drummer is a beast
animals as leaders is evolution, its vortex, it explains what is. :)
Красавцы!!!
at 2:19 john meyer guitar face
Where is the third song?
2:44 drum break
Seriously check out Tom Lippincott, such a good teacher
thats Morgan all the way!! good job!
Rad!!!!
i really want to know what Tosin have to say about what music genre did they play
i know they've been labeled as djent but AAL seem to be a little beyond than just a music genre.
PD: i say this cause any other band labeled as djent i've heard so far doesn't sound anything like AAL so for me they aren't djent but something greater...
If you're still interested, there's a video on here called "Tosin Abasi's opinion of djent" where explains exactly that.
Fabián Videla first of all it's genre, not gender. Second, if it sounds like djent, it's djent.
Fabián Videla first of all it's genre, not gender. Second, if it sounds like djent, it's djent.
Fabián Videla first of all it's genre, not gender. Second, if it sounds like djent, it's djent.
anyone know what he does with his pick when he switches to his fingers?
+Spewk of Nature In the vids I've seen he puts it in his mouth.
insane
it's really AAL you need!
Matt Garstka is a fucking madman...
If there is a genre that they should fit into it should be called mood metal. It just flows from a metal stand point. While it definitely is very rhythmic it incorporates quite a bit of jazz fusion and classical textures that are very musical. I would to classify animals as leaders as the pat metheny group of metal.