- published: 01 Dec 2014
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Animals as Leaders is an American, Washington, D.C.–based instrumental progressive metal band, formed by guitarist Tosin Abasi in 2007 which now includes guitarist Javier Reyes and drummer Matt Garstka. The self-titled debut album was released in April 2009 by Prosthetic Records. Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes are also members of the supergroup T.R.A.M alongside former The Mars Volta wind instrumentalist Adrián Terrazas-González and Suicidal Tendencies drummer Eric Moore.
Their new album entitled Weightless was released on November 8th, 2011 in the US, November 4th in Europe, and November 7th in the UK.
Animals as Leaders was formed after guitarist Tosin Abasi's previous technical metalcore band, Reflux, had been disbanded. The heavy metal record label Prosthetic Records saw Abasi's guitar work and asked him to create a solo album for them. Abasi initially declined, feeling such an endeavor would be "egotistical and unnecessary". When Reflux disbanded, Abasi decided to take the label's offer. The name Animals as Leaders was inspired by Daniel Quinn's 1992 novel Ishmael, which addresses anthropocentrism. Abasi coined the name as a reminder "that we're all essentially animals".