The debut music video from Animals As Leaders, directed by Scott Hansen (www.shpro.tv) . From their self-titled debut, out now on Prosthetic Records. Buy It Now: itunes.apple.com/us/album/anim...
The reason Javier is so good is that he has his guitar strapped so high that it's physically impossible to take his guitar off, so he has no choice but to practice
@@nobodylovesme3743 some people paint for 20 years and never do any paintings in an abstract style. Some express themselves with a shotgun blast and some will only whisper.
Tosin Abasi is one of the most frustrating musicians to watch - 1 because hes so good, and 2 because he can keep up the superfast tapping/shredding for longer than should be humanly possible. God I love this man.
@@WADEDESTROYS No he doesn't. Their first drummer Lavene, quit as he didn't want to tour ect. Matt Garstka was a fan of the music and wanted in, and everyone knows him as AALs drummer. Navene was sick regardless, but I don't think he comes to mind unless you're into the band's history.
@@claudespeed13579 I wasn't saying Matt was on this album or Weightless. But you're 100% right if memory serves right. Misha did produce thre self titled album, and Navene played it live.
it has to do with what you're exposing yourself to, your dopamine paths gradually need more of that "odd factor" as you get used with what you're training your brain to enjoy, at both high-level (genre) and low level (time signatures, surprising twists...)
@@Dm3qXY that is exactly why i felt in love with meshuggah, AAL dont have alot of secret after abusing it for a decade, try to understand the polyrythmia and permutation from meshuggah just for fun man its crazy structuraly
Amazing what bands can do if they literally just sit down and practice with some thought behind it. It's hard to find a group thst respects thought and theory without giving up. This is how most professional level music is handled. They just don't evolve as quickly.
@@dumbasiansissyboi he the studen of victor wooten. navene k , tosin, evan brewer, all from nashville. same highschool, being teached music by the wooten brother who owned nuclear record.
Take a moment to acknowledge that in this universe, in this dimension, we're fortunate enough to have had Tosin, Javier, and Matt find each other in this absolute randomness and chaos. Think on that. So many, many things fall to shit despite best effort, but we got this. I'll take it, this universe, for the few excellent things that have fallen into place. There they are.
nothing special about it. If it weren't for them, there'd have been other ppl to eventually come to the same "musical conclusion". Watch "Everything is a remix". It's the progress of humanity as a whole that's been manifested through them. I'm not talking about anything spiritual here (or maybe a little).
Javier is playing the low notes on his 8 string. At one point in the song they'll switch it up briefly. There is no bass player and no bass pedals. Tosin confirmed this in an interview.
There are some types of music that should have no words. I can just imagine this with vocals, God it would be horrible. I'm glad to hear some peeps playing with the 8 string for the sound, not just to make it heavy
Every time I watch this it just reminds me I'll never be as talented as these guys and I go and cry in a corner. But then I have to watch this to cheer me up, it's a never-ending cycle...
Advance use of techniques is not talent, it's called practicing. Now they just need to actually use it tastefully and in a musical manner rather than just wanking off all over the fingerboard.
@@oskaralegre5094 Music isn't a competition. Just because something is hard to play, that doesn't mean it is superior music to something else. Have you completely forgot that the purpose of music is to SOUND GOOD? What the actual fuck, this is the stupidest music take I've seen in years jesus.
This is the definition of art. Its crazy how instruments can be manipulated in such a way that it brings out specific emotions in those who are listening.
I heard this when first came out. I was just getting into high school then, blew my mind and didn’t know what to do with myself. When I finally did, I had to tell my buddies about it. They were just as equally shocked and blown away.
This tune is pure musical genius. Also artistic genius; it perfectly expresses that intense, wordless horror that millions of animals have to go through as their alien, technological, overlords attempt to satiate their own hunger...
Just saw them at DreamSonic tour with Devin Townsend and Dream Theater!! Oh man what a show!! I was completely blown away by AAL So freaking good live !!
@@maddexrowe8391 i'm a guitarist 😅 i didn't learn theory, that's probably why i can't get arythmetic here, but yeah there's probably a sense playing this way
I've been listening to AAL for 4 years and I knew instantly that they're one of the greatest bands ever to exist. But only recently after actually doing some independent music theory study do I finally start to understand *why*
Update: I'm trying out for a metal band tomorrow. I'm 30 and have never made music with other people, but I saw AAL live the other day and it inspired me to at least try. This band doesn't make super complicated music and I just play bass but it's worth it to me to try to make something others can enjoy. I owe a guy I talked to at the concert for opening my eyes to how cool that experience can be.
This band could have one person different and could not compare to this absolute perfect lineup. This is, THE PERFECT recipe for beauty, perfection, and awesome.
I went to see Veil of Maya and Animals as Leaders opened the show. I had not heard them until then. I was blown away, my body felt like it was floating, I was stone sober. It still haunts me.
This is one of the best instrumentals of the 21st century. It encapsulates everything about modern metal into 1 song, purely brilliant in its technicality, but loses nothing in its ability to build musically and offer many, many repeated listens. It's difficult to unpack these things on first listen, but over the years this has become pretty clear to me, and I'd put this song up against just about anything. These 3 dudes absolutely murdered it here and Tosin's tapping riffs just soar it into the stratosphere.
Oh dude, I totally get what you're saying and I agree 100%. I am totally not a technical guy and 99 % of music theory talk will draw a blank look from me, but listening to this song just draws so much emotions from me. I know there's some complicated stuff going on but that's not what makes me think it's one of the greatest metal song ever written. It's hard for a simple guy like me to explain eloquently. It's like listening to Rite of spring by Stravinsky or some other cool classical/orchestral music where apparently (to someone like me) there's some cool music theory and technical stuff going on, but for a simple guy like me, it just connects on an emotional level and evokes feelings that I can't describe.
Day 1: I can play it at 45% speed Day 2: I can play it at 68% speed Day 3: I can play it at 70% speed Day 4: I can play it at 72% speed Day 5: I can play it at 77% speed Day 6: I can play it at 80% speed Day 7: I can play it at 84% speed Day 8: I can play it at 86% speed Day 9: I can play it at 89% speed Day 10: Ok, I'm giving up, I can't do it, fuck this Day 11: F*** that, I'll do it Day 12: I can play it at 93% speed Day 13: I can play it at 96% speed Day 14: I F***** DID IT I CAN'T BELIEVE MY HANDS ARE ABLE TO DO SO F***** 155 BPM SON OF A B***** I GOT YOU F********
@@burundag1881 Thanks man! But it's amazing how the difficulty increases exponentially I can go from 0 to 150 bpm in a day and take 2 months to go from 150 to 155 lol
I'm 33 years old, just discovered Tosin from a friend, and this is quickly becoming my favorite band. I am in awe. This song, especially. This is timeless music, in my opinion.
The evolution of electric guitar since 1960 has been incredible. Tosin is the next and imo final step in guitar evolution. Most important electric guitarist since early 90’s dimebag.
After, spending majority of my hungover day listening to them, I've come to a conclusion that I've been doing myself a disservice by not checking them out earlier.
that was 10 years ago lol what most people dont get about AAL is that it started off basically as a solo project for Tosin he said it himself but he then realized "holy shit if i'm on a band, i can do more than i can do on my own" and then he forced himself to play IN A BAND - as a team. Opening up space for Javier and Matt to express their ideas, and the new AAL is certainly unique. Think about that how often do you see a musician as talented as Tosin to step down of his own pedestal, and purposely open up space for other people?
So many parts and riffs that you would love to be explored for longer, or even made into full songs. Its like a sampler of a full album in a five minute song. Incredible.
My favorite parts of this video is every time they cut to the rhythm guitarist and he's just so in the groove. And he has the white sparkles over his face making him look extra happy.
I absolutely adore how the video is shot -- a pure focus on the instrumentality of talent instead of "oh hey look at the lead singer" it is just pure "hey look at how I slam the drums and cymbals. Look how skillfully I finger tap and the bass" Need more videography like this.
10 years later, and I still get the same reaction as when I first discovered this, 10 years ago. The musicianship, in all of them, and together is insane.
So a friend introduced me to this genre with the words: "what happens when Metal/Rock musicians meet Freestyle Jazz" Now the description wasn't perfect, but I was immediately hooked. Never regretted, awesome stuff!
I slept on Animals as Leaders, and I'm delighted to hear them now. I love Tosin's particular style of technical tapping stuff, just the musicality he brings to it, where some guitarists focus more on just the technicality. I also love what I assume is his signature 8(?)-string guitar (from this and a guest appearance on Herman Li's channel). Makes it seem like he wanted a specific range more than just "woah moar stringz!".
This is so inspiring - I love the level of ignoring the 4/4 rhytms repeats (of course there are more), the beats "stealing the time" when combined with a GREAT BASS line guitar to it.).. the avelanche and the flow, just great a experience. The lead guitar guy is awesome, the drummer kills. Love to everyone. M
I saw them on the 2013 Summer Slaughter tour. When they came out to play, all of the other bands (all of them) came out just to watch them and they just stood there in amazement. And this was 2/3 of the way through the tour. I really think they did that every night.
This is some of the most unbelievably refreshing music to hear, especially in an era so plagued by dime-a-dozen, cookie-cutter bilge. Bands like this, Between the Buried and Me, Born of Osiris and the like are really pushing the boundaries of what music is, what music can express and how it's performed. I imagine if you brought Bach and Beethoven to the 21st century, they would be impressed. This is what music should be about - progression and innovation.
To me it reminds me more of bebop than Bach or Beethoven. Just like bebop still had commitment to the swing and stuff that came before it this has commitments to the metal that came before. But in terms of harmonic and melodic complexity the music this makes me think of is bebop.
Idk if you’ll see this after 10 years but if you wanna see some stuff that pushes the boundaries of music, methwitch is unbelievably heavy and gutrectomy brings slam to deathcore
Even ten years after this comment, this music is still refreshing, especially in the modern era where everyone wants to follow the leader and release dull and uninspiring drivel.
It delivers the same greatness no matter how many times you listen, no matter how many years later you revisit. First heard this back in 2018. Incredible
