Malkav
Hey Guys just got this album about a month ago and I've been listening to it quite a lot since then, the band animals as leaders is a really good progressive instrumental metal band that sounds a bit like a cross between Liquid Tension Experiment and Meshuggah. The guitarist and only actual band member who wrote everything is a guy named Tosin Abasi who plays an 8-string ? yay! and is quite shockingly good at it too. The most interesting thing about it though to me is his use of highly extended chord voicings and the amount of African traditional influence you can hear in their tracks. Check it out on youtube sometime ?
This one's just audio.
On Impulse
Here's a good example of the Meshuggah influence and it's live! ?
AlanRatcliffe
Very interesting. Judging by the second clip, Abasi comes from a classical background? Thanks - I'll check 'em out...
Malkav
Actually he wasn't schooled at all until recently, he was in a band called reflux that pretty much made it nowhere then he left that studied music for only a year so I don't think it was too ridiculous a course and then released animals as leaders. ? I think you might also like all the textures he makes using his midi equipped seven string (Ibanez RGA7) ?
inflames
Very cool, doesn't this dude have a 8 string Ibi now?
Malkav
Yeah he's endorsed so he plays an RG2228 now.
AlanRatcliffe
Listened to some stuff last night. A few nice moments, but not for me I'm afraid.
8-strings are strange instruments. I can understand as a solo instrument and doing stuff like George van Eps, but not in a band context with bassist. Add to that that it's difficult to get the tone right on even a low B string without fanning the frets and compromising on pickup design. It also means if you want distortion, you have to put the low strings through it too.
