Animals as Leaders are among the most influential and astonishing instrumental bands in modern progressive music — a trio who, built around the extraordinary 8-string guitar of Tosin Abasi, helped define the sound of twenty-first-century prog metal. Fusing the crushing low end of djent with jazz fusion, electronics and classical grace, their entirely instrumental music is as technically jaw-dropping as it is genuinely beautiful. Few bands have done more to drag the electric guitar into the future.

The short version

Formed in Washington, D.C. in 2007 by guitar virtuoso Tosin Abasi, Animals as Leaders play virtuosic, entirely instrumental progressive metal. Across five albums — from their self-titled debut (2009) to the chart-topping “The Joy of Motion” (2014) and the heavy, refined “Parrhesia” (2022) — the trio of Abasi, fellow guitarist Javier Reyes and drummer Matt Garstka have blended djent, jazz fusion and electronica into something all their own. They are one of the defining names in modern prog.

Washington, D.C.: Tosin Abasi’s vision

Animals as Leaders grew out of the talents of Tosin Abasi, a Nigerian-American guitarist from Washington, D.C. who first made his name in the technical metalcore band Reflux. When that group disbanded, their label invited Abasi to record a solo album — an offer he at first turned down before changing his mind. Taking the band’s name from Daniel Quinn’s novel “Ishmael”, he recorded the self-titled debut almost single-handed, playing all the guitar and bass himself while Periphery’s Misha Mansoor programmed the drums. What began as a one-man project soon blossomed into a full band, and one of modern metal’s most formidable trios.

8-string virtuosity

At the heart of Animals as Leaders is Tosin Abasi’s playing — a master of the extended-range 8-string guitar and the pioneer of a percussive “thumping” technique that combines tapping, slapping and fingerpicking into something entirely new. Paired with the complementary guitar of Javier Reyes and the dazzling, polyrhythmic drumming of Matt Garstka, the band builds intricate instrumental music of staggering complexity. They fuse the heavy, syncopated riffing of djent with jazz fusion, classical and electronic textures, moving from brutal heaviness to delicate beauty within a single piece. Genre-defying by design, they became one of the bands that defined — and transcended — the djent movement.

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From the debut to Parrhesia

Their self-titled debut (2009) laid down the 8-string instrumental template, all dizzying technique and crushing riffs. “Weightless” (2011), their first album as a trio, leaned further into fusion and electronics, before “The Joy of Motion” (2014) became their breakthrough — topping the Billboard hard rock chart and fully realising their sound. “The Madness of Many” (2016) turned toward jazzier, more pensive territory, with nylon-string guitars and a lighter touch, while “Parrhesia” (2022), made after a six-year break, brought back a heavier, more aggressive edge without losing their hard-won sophistication.

Album by album

Five albums of virtuosic, genre-defying instrumental prog metal. Tap any title for its guide.

The players

Animals as Leaders are the trio of Tosin Abasi, guitarist Javier Reyes and drummer Matt Garstka — a line-up that has remained stable since Garstka joined in 2012, replacing original drummer Navene Koperweis. Hovering in the background throughout has been Periphery’s Misha Mansoor, the band’s longtime collaborator and “ghost member”, who has produced and contributed to several of their albums. Beyond the band, Abasi and Reyes have pursued their own projects — the fusion group T.R.A.M. and Reyes’s solo Mestis among them — but it is their work together, and Abasi’s restless guitar innovation, that has made Animals as Leaders so influential.

Where to start

Begin with “The Joy of Motion” (2014) — their breakthrough and arguably their most fully realised album, the perfect balance of technical fireworks and melody. From there, the self-titled debut “Animals as Leaders” (2009) shows where it all began, while “Parrhesia” (2022) captures the trio at their heaviest and most refined. Three albums that together map the band’s remarkable evolution.

Why they still matter

Animals as Leaders matter as true innovators — a band who expanded the very vocabulary of the electric guitar and helped define modern progressive metal in the process. Tosin Abasi’s pioneering 8-string technique, the trio’s genre-blending ambition and their commitment to instrumental music have inspired countless musicians and won them an audience far beyond metal. For anyone exploring progressive music in the twenty-first century, they are essential, forward-looking listening.

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