Boundary pushing instrumental trio, Animals As Leaders, have dropped the third new single from their upcoming album Parrhesia (out 3/25 on Sumerian Records). The track titled "Gordian Naught" can be found on DSPs HERE and comes accompanied by a visualizer which can be viewed below.
Speaking on the new song, guitarist Tosin Abasi shares
"This song attempts to put a soundtrack to the metaphor of “untying an impossibly tangled knot” A sonic commentary on the seemingly sustained problems facing the world currently."
Animals As Leaders recently announced their first new album in six years. Their long-awaited return, titled Parrhesia, will be out on Sumerian Records on March 25th. The release has been highlighted so far by the release of singles “Monomyth” and “The Problem Of Other Minds” which combined, have clocked up 1.45 million Youtube views and over 2.4 million streams on Spotify alone since release. Pre-order the album here.
Animals As Leaders will be hitting the road for the Parrhesia US Tour. Beginning at the end of March, the tour will kick off in Denver on March 30th and travel throughout 18 further cities ending in Los Angeles, CA at the Ace Theater on April 22nd and will see the band play two sets, one of which will feature the new album in full. Tickets on sale now from animalsasleaders.org. Full dates listed below.
ANIMALS AS LEADERS ‘PARRHESIA TOUR’
W/ Special Guests TBA
Mar 30 - Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall
Apr 1 - Kansas City, MO @ Truman Theater*
Apr 2 - Omaha, NE @ Slowdown*
Apr 3 - Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater
Apr 4 - Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
Apr 5 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogarts
Apr 6 - Detroit, MI @ St. Andrews Hall
Apr 8 - Hampton Beach, NH @ Wally's*
Apr 9 - Lititz, PA @ Mickey's Black Box*
Apr 10 - New York, NY @ Irving Plaza
Apr 11 - Philadelphia, PA @ Brooklyn Bowl
Apr 12 - Boston, MA @ Big Night Live
Apr 13 - Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
Apr 15 - Atlanta, GA @ Buckhead Theatre
Apr 16 - Orlando, FL @ House of Blues
Apr 18 - Dallas, TX @ House of Blues
Apr 19 - Austin, TX @ Emo's
Apr 21 - Phoenix, AZ @ Marquee Theater*
Apr 22 - Los Angeles, CA @ Theater At The Ace Hotel
Apr 23 - Sacramento, CA @ Swanfest
*Not a Live Nation Date
ABOUT ANIMALS AS LEADERS
It might sound strange to associate “storytelling” with instrumental music. But ANIMALS AS LEADERS jettisoned the rules, limitations, and boundaries of conventional rock music from the start. Armed with palette-expanding eight-string guitars, rich synths, and pummeling percussive grooves, the trio is beloved by metalheads, aspiring virtuosos, jazz fanatics, and casual listeners alike. As Pitchfork observed, “Animals As Leaders have walked the tightrope between sheer technical virtuosity and actual emotional resonance.” Even without vocals, this is intimate, myth-making music.
ANIMALS AS LEADERS began as a solo outlet for guitarist Tosin Abasi, whose creative partnership with classically trained guitarist Javier Reyes and Berklee-educated drummer Matt Garstka is built on a shared love of everything from fusion to technical death metal. Garstka graced the cover of Modern Drummer in 2015. In one of his many appearances on their cover, Guitar World named Tosin among the Guitarists of the Decade. Rolling Stone featured him as part of their “Young Guns” series. The Chicago Tribune declared him “the closest thing prog-metal has to an Eddie Van Halen.”
Kerrang! included their album, 'Weightless' among its Best Albums of 2011. 'The Joy of Motion' entered the Billboard 200 at No. 24 in 2014, and 'The Madness of Many' cracked the Top 20 in 2016. Now more than a decade into their career, a quick look at the bands they’ve toured with demonstrates the consistently diverse appeal of ANIMALS AS LEADERS. It’s a list that includes Korn, Deftones, Thrice, Meshuggah, Underoath, TesseracT, and Circa Survive as well as major festivals with the likes of Linkin Park, Avenged Sevenfold, and Slipknot.
ANIMALS AS LEADERS offer more than clinic-ready musicianship and proficiency. A focus on mood, texture, and emotive power elevates the material past any preconceived notions, resulting in a fascinatingly unique phenomenon, with an unlikely and profound appeal across multiple sub-genres and over 200 million career streams to date.
“We all know how talented the guys in Animals As Leaders are. Absurdly talented,” declared Metal Sucks. “They are one of the finest, most interesting units in modern music.”
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