Animals As Leaders - Weightless

Regardless of style or genre, all types of albums have made listeners feel something in one way or another at some point in time. This is usually a feeling of some sort of emotion, be it joy, happiness, sadness, anger, peacefulness, or a feeling of being melancholy. However, not all albums allow listeners to feel different emotions. If a listener is able to focus hard enough on the music and get lost in the soundscapes, sometimes this listener can feel a physical reaction to the music. After all, music is medicine, in my opinion, and can be used for healing purposes in many different ways. Instrumental three-piece Animals As Leaders just released their sophomore effort entitled Weightless on November 8, 2011 through Prosthetic Records, and this album definitely gives off a physical reaction. While listening to this album and focusing deeply on the soundscapes, I felt the same reaction as the album name itself, weightless. One may ask, how can music make you feel weightless? Well, in the case of Animals As Leaders' Weightless, the music is so empowering over the physical body itself and has a spiritual aspect in the sense of tones, so it is very easy to get lost in the sounds of the album and feel "weightless".

Ever since 2009, Animals As Leaders have been turning heads with their complex and innovative style of progressive metal. Animals As Leaders released their self-titled debut in 2009 and the album was mainly recognized and praised due to virtuoso Tosin Abasi's technical form of 8-string guitar playing. Abasi recorded all of the guitar and bass for the self-titled album while Misha Mansoor (Periphery) helped with drums, electronics, and engineering. During this time, Abasi rounded out his line-up with the addition of guitarist Javier Reyes and drummer Navene Koperweis. Abasi, Reyes, and Koperweis are the three masterminds that currently make up Animals As Leaders. Animals As Leaders' Weightless is the band's second album and the first album as a three-piece. In just two years, Animals As Leaders have gone from a solo, self-recorded act, to an extensive three-piece of legendary musicianship. Weightless was recorded and produced in Koperweis's home studio, and the quality of the recording is much more crafted than the self-titled. On the self-titled album, Misha Mansoor handled production and the work that Mansoor put in on the album was very amateur sounding compared to the mixing done by Reyes on Weightless. One major difference with the two albums is that on the self-titled, Mansoor used digital drums that were way too processed and did not feel real. On Weightless however, there is  real drumming by Koperweis and it sounds much more natural. There is no comparison between the drum work on each album, Weightless takes the cake.

While the self-titles album focused on more of a djent sound, filled with chugging guitar sections, Weightless focuses more on the mellower jazz side of Animals As Leaders, as well as a heavy focus on electronic elements. Weightless is definitely a technical album, but there is more focus on painting a picture of feelings than on the monstrous shredding riffs that were so present on the self-titled debut. However, even though there is less focus on the shredding elements, there are still strong elements of solos, intricate guitar riffs, and thunderous sound. An example of this thunderous sound is noticed right away in the opening track "An Infinite Regression". On the self-titled album, the djent sound was present and the guitar work was mainly composed of low, chugging riffs. On Weightless, Abasi and Reyes compose riffs that are all across the fretboard, without just focusing on one section. Tracks like "Earth Departure" and "To Lead You To An Overwhelming Question" do, however, have that low, chugging sound present, but it is more of a natural chugging sound than a technical djent sound. These techniques that I have noted above show how Animals As Leaders have improved on their songwriting abilities with the release of Weightless.

"Odessa" was the first track to be released prior to the release of Weightless, and is a very jazz-oriented metal track that relies heavily on electronic glitch effects. Tracks such as "New Eden", "Espera", and "David" are all under three minutes and are some of the better tracks on the album. The only disappointing thing about these tracks is that they have the potential to be longer, and they should be, because they are just that good. "Somnarium" is another track that relies heavily on jazz and classical riffs, which leads into a full-fledged rock track while maintaining its jazz elements. The title track "Weightless" reminds me a lot of "Song Of Solomon" from the self-titled debut. This track is composed of solo riffs that go up and down the entire fretboard, and there are also elements of thunderous, chugging riffs present in this track.

Overall, Weightless is Animals As Leaders best work to date. The quality and production on the album is a lot more natural than the self-titled album, and the songwriting is much more developed. The band do a great job of blending progressive metal and jazz elements in their songs and this is very evident on Weightless. The overall feel of Weightless, from the production to the songwriting, makes it easily one of the best releases this year, regardless of genre.

Check out the track "Odessa" off of Animals As Leaders' Weightless: