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REVEALED: Animals as leaders | Rare Historical Photos

Manuel Gardner Fernandes breaks down the 5 techniques that define his sound

Manuel presents his percussive strumming, tapped harmonics, selective picking, and Hetfield-inspired downpicking approaches

Guitar World

“At this point, we’re even being emulated by other companies”: Tosin Abasi never planned to be a guitar designer – he explains how Abasi Concepts became one of the biggest names in progressive guitars

The Animals as Leaders virtuoso charts his journey as an ergonomic guitar pioneer, from commissioning eight-strings to having his own designs imitated

Guitar World

“What’s Japanese for shameless?” Tosin Abasi's Animals As Leaders bandmate lambasts Ibanez's new Alpha guitar design

Guitar World

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“We are big fans of tube amplifiers. There’s no substitute for playing an amp in a room”: From amps to plugins, Tosin Abasi teases the next evolution of Abasi Concepts

Abasi also addresses the ubiquitous amp modeler versus amplifier debate – and why “nothing defeats the experience of plugging into an amp”

Guitar World

The Pineapple Thief, Animals As Leaders, Protest The Hero and Ihlo all announced for next year's Radar Festival

Next year's Radar Festival takes place at Manchester's O2 Victoria Warehouse from July 31 to August 2

Metal Hammer

“I want the guitar to play fast… to communicate a degree of aggression and forward-thinking”: Sterling By Music Man unveils affordable version of Tosin Abasi’s groundbreaking EBMM Kaizen signature model – and yes, there's a 7-string

A Kaizen for under $1,000? SBMM might have a smash hit on its hands with the Animals As Leaders' signature electric – available now in Firemist Purple Satin and Stealth Black

MusicRadar

Animals As Leaderscancel Mexico, South America, and Australia tour dates due to "serious injury"

Instrumental prog trio Animals As Leaders cancel live shows after drummer Matt Garstka sustains a "serious arm injury that requires surgery".

Metal Hammer

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"Instrumental albums are often made by musicians for musicians, so we wanted to keep things tuneful and hold the listener’s attention" How Animals As Leaders broke the mould with The Joy Of Motion

The story of the Washington instrumental trio's third album, 2014's The Joy Of Motion

Metal Hammer

“We’re guitar players. The reason we’re designing gear is we’re making things that we wish existed”: Tosin Abasi is pushing the boundaries of progressive music and guitar gear on multiple fronts – and he’s got no plans to slow down

The Animals As Leaders and Abasi Concepts mastermind on upcoming music, his favorite new players, switching from modelers to tube amps, and why he might not be ready to record a blues album just yet

Guitar World

“There’s amazing players like Josh Smith and Eric Gales, and I thought, ‘OK, I’ve been missing out. I’m learning the blues’”: Tosin Abasi said he wanted to release a blues album – is it still on the cards?

We asked the progressive metal innovator for an update on his prospective blues record, which he teased back in 2022

Guitar World

“I like seeing boundaries pushed. With these loops, I wanted to inject my identity”: Tosin Abasi’s playing is now available in Garage Band and Logic thanks to a high-profile new producer pack

The guitar innovator has lent his creative force to a versatile pack of 170 loops available exclusively on Apple’s DAWs

Guitar World

I used to feel like a geek for loving prog metal. In 2025, it’s taking over the world – and I couldn’t be happier!

Sleep Token headlining Download! A long-awaited Mastodon album! Polyphia x Babymetal?! This is why forward-thinking metal will have a banner year in 2025

Metal Hammer

“For me to be so appreciated, I think I can start to feel guilty and pressured. But I guess it’s a good problem to have”: From playing Steve Vai's guitars to playing with him onstage, Tosin Abasi's rapid ascent made him one of the biggest names in guitar

Speaking to Guitar World in 2014, the Animals As Leaders maestro recalls the grueling salmon cannery and poop-scooping dog kennel jobs that helped him save for his first Vai signature model, and discusses how to adapt to seven- and eight-string models

Guitar World

Current and former members of Trivium, Killswitch Engage, Animals as Leaders, Polyphia, While She Sleeps and more team up for epic, metalled-up Cult of the Lamb game soundtrack - listen to first single Cult

Breakout indie game Cult of the Lamb is getting a special soundtrack makeover courtesy of some metal heavyweights

Metal Hammer

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Guitar World

“We were surrounded by bands like Animals As Leaders, Meshuggah, Plini… and the crowd could clap in time over a 7/8 time signature, too!” From a virtuoso Tool support to Rabea Massaad’s new supergroup, meet the next generation of progressive guitar heroes

The UK’s ArcTanGent Festival is the world’s biggest celebration of heavy progressive music, and this year’s lineup featured epic sets from Meshuggah, Mogwai and Explosions in the Sky. Could these 5 bands be the headliners of the future?

Guitar World

“It creates the illusion of speed and intricacy”: Inside the evolution of selective picking – one of modern guitar’s most expressive techniques

Tosin Abasi crafted it, but in the hands of countless others, selective picking has taken on a life of its own. We explore why it’s become one of the most personal guitar techniques around

Metal Hammer

The 12 bands that defined Arctangent 2024

From headliners Meshuggah to left-field picks like Glassing, Arctangent’s 10th birthday was another extravaganza of forward-thinking talent

Guitar World

“He was already in Animals As Leaders – but there we were, playing the Beatles in a bar. I’d be like, ‘What the hell is happening?’” Joshua De La Victoria has gone from prog awakening to one of the genre’s brightest guitar talents

A pub show put the fast-rising guitarist on the road to progressive greatness, but as he tells GW, he’s kept his pop roots, too...

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Metal Hammer

"We've got maybe another 10, 15 years? Playing a Dragonforce set is not easy": Guitar hero Herman Li talks technique, helping popularise power metal and the next generation of shredders

We put your questions to Herman Li on everything from teaming up with Polyphia and Animals As Leaders to video-games, power metal and how long the band can continue

Guitar World

Tosin Abasi is one of modern metal's most forward-thinking and creative minds – and his groundbreaking techniques will really test your abilities

Get ready for a physical education for the fingers and a full brain workout as we unpack the Animals as Leaders guitarist's signature techniques, e.g. tapping, thumping, splitting the atom...

Guitar World

“A significant leap forward in sonic performance and flexibility for guitarists of all styles”: Bad Cat finally launches the Jet Black – the guitar amp at the heart of Tosin Abasi’s new rig

In recent years, the Animals As Leaders virtuoso has turned to tube amps after moving away from Axe-Fx – and now the Bad Cat Jet Black plays a pivotal role in his new setup

Metal Hammer

Meshuggah and Animals As Leaders announced for ArcTanGent

ArcTangent celebrates its tenth anniversary at Fernhill Farm, Somerset between August 14-17

MusicRadar

Tosin Abasi declares John Petrucci the GOAT and gifts him an Abasi Concepts ēmi 8-string in a cult classic Picasso finish

Classy player, classy guitar, classy gesture as the epic Dreamsonic tour featuring Dream Theater, Animals As Leaders and Devin Townsend comes to an end

Guitar World

“A true inspirational person to be around”: Animals As Leaders pay tribute to guitar tech Dave Cohen, who has passed away

Cohen had recently joined Animals As Leaders on Dream Theater's Dreamsonic tour, and was founder and head luthier of custom guitar builder, Equilibrium Guitars

Guitar World

“I hadn’t heard such clarity and definition before”: Tosin Abasi overhauls his backline with new stereo tube amp rig

The Animals as Leaders mastermind – and former Axe-Fx devotee – has switched to Bad Cat Amps for his tour with Dream Theater and Devin Townsend

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