Animals As Leaders - The Brain Dance (pianist continues his exploration of heavy metal)

[@rexlupis]

Their drummer, Matt, who joined before their third album, did go to Berklee. Tosin, however, did not. He studied at the Atlanta Institute for Music and Media for a year after his metalcore band that preceded Animals as Leaders, Reflux, broke up. He was mostly self taught, but from what I understand Javier was Tosin's guitar teacher for a time in Tosin's youth. Their former drummer's current band, Entheos, is also worth checking out; they're often described as technical death metal or progressive metal, but they're fairly unique. Some of the more electronic influences from the first two Animals as Leaders albums were definitely from Navene, and he mixes those sort of sounds with more extreme metal in Entheos.

[@johnmurray5241]

This comment is spot on. Came here to type this.

[@Greatmeasures]

Thank you clearing this up. Much appreciated

[@slimefudge]

Navene also has guitar solo on a Warforged track, which is pretty wild when realizing how wild Navene is on drums, and all the guitar tracks on that Warforged song is pretty sick. So a lot of Entheos is basically just Navene... Navene cray

[@Thenewbronzeagecollapse]

​@@slimefudgeSame as half of the riffs on Whitechapel's The Valley

[@fscorpion678]

I didn't even realize he was in entheos, that's sick

[@johnhowetv]

Just like anything, the more you listen to them and get to know a song - the more you can appreciate it more that just its technically ability. The more familiar you are, the less the parts sound like random notes but rather integral building blocks. Great reaction!

[@Secretbandx]

THE John Howe 🛐

[@nukewaste]

I would fucking LOVE to hear these guys with Andy McKee

[@sandansaiyan5675]

In free jazz as I remember is the same

[@isntriley]

vildhjarta when

[@treykorte6984]

Yes

[@marcusweatherbee8195]

Traces, brannmarkt, masstadens narionalsang, any song really.

[@vernaltear]

Den Spanska Kanslan

[@Simeneri]

Vildhjarta would be nuts

[@NikoKozlowitz]

Masstadens Nationalsang YESSS!

[@s.e.gutierrez]

This one caught 100% of Judson's attention🏅

[@rafanj824]

How not to? The chemistry between these three guys is incredible. Tosin dancing on that acoustic is so beautiful and heavenly, a good contrast with the heavy and brute tone of Javier's guitar. And Matt keeping the groove alive between these two guitars is just unbelievable.

[@LiftedBlader]

The stank face at 5:58 lmao

[@s.e.gutierrez]

@@LiftedBlader The face of approval 🤘

[@zzzzzz69]

His brain was dancing

[@TaureanMixing]

Fact: Abasi as well as Weinman (DEP) were instrumental in me quitting playing guitar.

[@Greatmeasures]

😂 Thanks, Tosin

[@TaureanMixing]

😂@@Greatmeasures

[@パチモン-q4g]

I am a drummer from Japan. I play jazz and fusion. I was blown away by Matt's drumming. No one would have taken control of Rudiments like him. In addition, I can't hide my surprise at the way couplets are handled. The quintuplet of The Brain Dance should be on the textbooks of the whole world. It is clearly beyond human.

[@bradlarrison191]

Tosin attended Atlanta College of Music and Media. Lets be honest here, for people of his musical talent, the school doesn’t matter all that much. The best guitarist I’ve ever met, and I’ve met a few prodigies, was an alcoholic who lived in the middle of nowhere in Indiana. Not only could he immediately be able to capture the style of any guitarist, he had a photographic memory as well as an incredibly beautiful musically creative mind. So, he could not only play anything after one listen, he could also improvise something so captivating that it felt like life made sense during the moments of those notes. And then you’d look at his walls and they were covered with pin up girls and his floor was a wasteland of empty Jack Daniels bottles.

[@leviddesign4537]

That is beautiful. Chaos with feeling. A universal imbalance with balance.

[@Canine77]

Animals As Leaders =musical perfection. Matt Garska is right up there with Gavin Harrison, amazing.

[@rafanj824]

Matt is tremendous, his timing, his precision and awkward grooves is jist incredible. But Gavin is so nasty, he always hits the sweet spot, always an eargasm!!!

[@HerbalistGuybrush]

Gavin is much more tame to me. Matt improvises more while Gavin plays exactly studied notes

[@FunkadelicPancho]

This series should be called: Guy who looks like an accomplished jazz pianist knows surprising little about music.

[@michaellammay9937]

Mr Judson has a great ear and sense of musicallity, but i agree there is a sense of disconnect. This is the conceit of the channel. He exemplifies an educated, more classical perception of what music should be. Modern metal, as jazz did before it, subverts these preconceptions. Neither perspective is correct/wrong. Art is subjective

[@FunkadelicPancho]

@@michaellammay9937 no I mean, he doesn't know much about music theory at all

[@markhartfield8186]

😂

[@kerrykellett8717]

​@FunkadelicPancho im going to have to say your compleatly wrong on him not knowing theory. He knows his shit and has very good ear training. Ive only seen a couple video's and he is absolutly someone i would hire or work with.

[@kerrykellett8717]

I will give you this he spens alot more time talking about the feeling than disecting the music.

[@LlamaTheory]

Matt Garstka is easily the most incredible drummer I have ever seen live. The dude is electric and he 100% grabs your attention - even with all that guitar wizardry going on in front of him. And then you try to make sense of the shit he's playing and your brain melts. 10/10, go see these guys.

[@WishMount]

saw them in Feb in Melbourne and he absolutely floored me... even with Tosin right in front of me I could not take my eyes off Matt... just an offensively perfect drummer

[@time2k12]

AAL is an absolute addiction, Tosin/Javier/Matt we need 10 more albums!

[@MikaTarkela]

Javier has some really beautiful solo material out there. Beautiful clean chord progressions, amazing stuff! Also some of his playthroughs from Mestis are great!

[@Easy_Skanking]

Mestis is really cool!

[@devmanify]

Mestis is great!

[@mendronesg]

I think Judson was trying to say it sounds chaotic, but has order within the composition

[@rl318]

Judson hardly blinked watching this; imagine how people who cannot play a note perceive this. He can play songs on the piano by ear, so things like AAL to laypeople sound like an alien code.

[@Greatmeasures]

“Where’s Jeff Goldblum when we need him?”

[@rl318]

@@Greatmeasures Goldblum is using his teleportation machine to go back and forth in time to fight dinosaurs and defeat aliens simultaneously with a Macbook. He is everywhere and nowhere. He is here right now.

[@alanbator5118]

I took a non-musician friend to their gig. She said " It sounded like everyone is doing something different and chaotic ". Not for everyone for sure.

[@rl318]

@@alanbator5118 I still need to get into their catalog, but they remind me of jazz. If you can't get into many abstract sounds and changes of pace and tone, this is not for you.

[@mrmeach1967]

@@rl318Yep, totally agree. My father played his way through undergrad (Tenn State) and grad (U Mich) schools in various jazz ensembles. I never caught the bug though, but I was exposed to all the abstract stuff at a young age, and this hits me the same way. Garstka’s rhythms, however, are far more complex than anything I ever heard, even in the jazz world.

[@lasagnasux4934]

I used to be obsessed with AAL. The best performance i ever saw was Tosin by himself doing The Woven Web live at NAMM in like 2016 or something like that. Blew my mind. They were also the first concert I ever went to.

[@Pieman6711]

I think it's best said this way: Animals As Leaders deserves a second listen, I don't think a lot of their music is something that can be processed within one listening session. Once you figure out the basis for each song, the little touches peppered throughout really come out to shine. Perhaps that's a turn-off for some people, but it also means there's incredible replay value in what they write and perform. Long commutes make for great analyses.

[@chra3427]

Ähhh what?! What a freaking awesome mix of music stiles. Jazzy flamenco meshuggah even some kind of new age influence :D crazy Didn't know their music before, just heard the name a few times. Thank you!!

[@KirkWilson86]

That feeling of letting a friend listen to a song that changed your life and getting their feedback from it. It's pure elation. AAL is simply the greatest band ever.

[@jaimefuster5059]

Got to see AAL live on November. Probably one of the best experiences ever!

[@comfyzenny]

The great thing about AAL is their music invites you to puzzle it from any level, but while you do that, it's also nice to listen to musically.

[@robgas7507]

My first introduction to them was (Cafo) and have never disappointed since that song. Amazingly talented individuals

[@elvisrios756]

I need a full cover of Undone for piano! A man of culture!

[@fatsuperfly]

They changed so much, they have more of a refined sound now I would say. More matured for sure, the first album was pretty much all Tosin, and I think some riffs are Misha mansoor from periphery. But you can definitely hear a difference when Javier started writing with Tosin. Love the first album, a lil more on the heavy side but it’s cool to see the gears kinda falling into place after that. Great great band and musicianship.

[@piscesfreak1]

I get what Judson says, completely. I love the way that all of that complexity just 'washes' over you, at the first listen. To me, the first listen is always magical, but I understand the feeling of being overwhelmed. I was wondering if you guys have heard of Jose Gonzalez. He makes the guitar talk but in a much more cohesive way, the complexity with his songs are more 'subversive,' with more 'ghost notes' and the like. I would suggest 'Slow Moves' from his album 'Veneer.'

[@vonandrei3590]

The urge to call this "jazz-metal""

[@PanasonicTooth]

Now we're talkin'! And Judson didn't even reach for the piano til the very end... AAL are overall the best thing to happen to music so far this century as far as I'm concerned. Loved watching this reaction. Also, I love Judson and wish he was my friend. There I said it!

[@hugemetalfan6664]

Their newer album is freaking awesome!!!!!

[@66Samus]

why am I tagged in this video lmfao

[@Greatmeasures]

We love your channel. 🤷‍♂️

[@m1k3g3tz]

i see AAL as relatable insanity ... as a bass player i was initially put off by the lack of bass - until i realized Javier was filling the role nicely on the 8 string. i know just enough theory to know i don't understand a lot of what tosin/javier write - but systemically my body enjoys it.

[@AMikeStein]

First time seeing Jud without glasses…. He’s actually really handsome. :)

[@elqquiereser]

thank you for those new Richard's shirt, that's so useful and amazing, and mostly prevent us to ask everytime we don't understand a band 🤘🏼

[@twitchthepocket]

i love how every time javier was in frame with the 8 string, the pianist was just shocked and intrigued by it LOL

[@JB-nn6hj]

I wasn’t watching the video and realized I heard Kenny powers is educating his friend on the finer talents.

[@TaraRyze]

Yay! Love Animals…I actually had heard of them but hadn’t listened to them before I saw them live with Devin Townsend and Dream Theater…it was quite a surprise! They are amazing live…no need for vocals! I just kept squinting my eyes looking for a bass 🤣

[@Greatmeasures]

😂

[@alecoram7874]

Dreamsonic was an amazing tour. I went to the Vancouver show (Devin's hometown). I saw Devin Townsend and Animals as Leaders back in 2014 but they just keep getting better - especially live

[@TheAfricaboy23]

@@alecoram7874 My brother and I went to the Dreamsonic show in Calgary, it was my first exposure to AAL and I’m so happy I went!

[@alexs9706]

Thank u for making me know this beautiful song. Alreaby in my playlist!

[@SK23.]

I really wish you guys had listened to the studio version instead because the solo on that version is beautiful.

[@dedballoons]

I've come to find these videos really endearing.

[@KC_rocka]

Awesome reaction, you guys REALLY need to react to their song Cafo, it's a masterpiece.

[@loganmccurdy1328]

seconded

[@solenskinerable]

3rd

[@gretchman]

The point about the writing of the songs and the nearly inscrutable mysteries of how one would even go about writing/orchestrating a song like this is really great. It's all essentially magic until you know the trick. Painting is a really good example of "how the hell did he even DO that??" and then you see the artist going through the process and the process is revealed. So you can either appreciate the process when you next come across something that uses that effect, or you can try to adopt it and work it into your own processes. You don't know, until you know.

[@TylerGreeneMusic]

My favorite part of this video is the joy on the metalheads face watching his friend experience this for the first time. What a treat Animals As Leaders are. Nice to see two friends appreciating amazing music.

[@RuneMKK]

This channel slaps dude. Their drummer Matt did work in a fusion trio called Gem that really rocks. It reminds me a lot of Tigran Hamasyans style of Jazz Fusion.

[@mk001]

WEEZER!!! Thanks for playing a song from the 90s on piano! 🤟

[@bumblefluff79]

I've only got their Weightless album but absolutely love it. A similar(ish) band that always blow my mind is Scale The Summit. Pure virtuosity but probably a little more more conventionally hooky. The amount of talent out there is frightening.

[@Greatmeasures]

Scale the Summit hasn’t even crossed my mind since we’ve been doing this. Judson needs to hear them.

[@maynarddrivesfast804]

Agree 100%, but I'd also like to throw in the ill-fated band Corelia with their song "Treetops". Really think Judson would enjoy their composition along with the killer piano in that one.

[@Pieman6711]

Weightless is great, but you're missing out on Joy of Motion and Parrhesia. Honorable mentions: Another Year, The Woven Web, Lippencott (JoM). Red Miso, Gestaltzerfal, The Problems of Other Minds, Conflict Cartography (Parrhesia)

[@myauramusic]

Overlapping, intertwining patterns is a great way to "try" to explain the intricacies of their music

[@zeigbert1743]

Such amazing musicians.

[@michaelkozma5929]

That "Sweater Song" intro was Lit 🔥 Tosin Abasi is God Tier Mode meets Extra-Terrestrial meets chatGPT on steriods on guitar. Not too mention Javier and Matt Garksa in sync on some other dimension. the chordal Resolution right before Tosin picks up the 8 String is superb. 🤌

[@biorythmicshifter]

Definitely one of the most innovative bands active today. High strangeness is a term typically applied to paranormal events but it also applies to Tosin’s approach to harmony. It sounds like he listened to a lot of Holdsworth, Wooten, and Meshugga. One of the primary aspects of this band that I find so appealing is its unpredictability. My ears are pretty jaded and this is one of the few artists out there that can really hold my attention. This song isn’t an ideal starting point of entry but there is definitely a universal hook hidden within all the music that could still appeal to the non musical minded listeners. Personally the first album and the latest are my favorites but overall every album is stunning…

[@jay_vero]

more animals as leaders pls

[@theopinson3851]

The metric modulations in this song are nuts.

[@beatlebum7057]

Glad y'all finally got to some AAL. I think On Impulse off their first album would be a good one to do next, it's much more tasteful and accessible, but definitely need to do CAFO at some point.

[@squeedum4893]

The facial expression was absolutely perfect as a first time listener to AAL, especially if you're a musician. I don't know if you could pack more innovative talent into one band than these guys. I've been lucky to have seen them perform twice. And the last time was absolutely transformative.

[@deadwood21plus]

For me, this is the most balad song of AAL. It's like Spirit Carries On of Dream Theater or Nothing else matters of Metallica or Deargod of Avenged Sevenfold 😁

[@ab-gomes]

I might be wrong, but I think that the only guy who went to berkley was Matt, the drummer. He and Javier are the theoretical brains of the band, I think. Tosin comes with the unreal ability and creativity

[@evylrune]

Yeah Tosin is self taught.

[@TKDWolf]

@@evylrune He also went to Atlanta Institute of Music for a period of time. He's definitely a big part of the sound of the band, considering their first album was basically just Tosin and Misha Mansoor.

[@goldenostrichman]

6:00 is absolutely amazing. Matt Gartska is really one of the greatest drummers.

[@RK79KR]

Nice sweater song rendition

[@redpilltotal2023]

First first album. Only Tosin Abasi, no Javier Reyes... "On Impulse" is a Master Piece.

[@MrDmadness]

Took me a long long time to learn it, and if i don't play it every day it fades quick... my favorite song from their early stuff.

[@SayBiird]

Do dancers to a discordant system - Meshuggah

[@Th3dubside42]

You can tell how he was flabbergasted from the start lol 😂

[@grooviedrewbie3843]

Harmonically ambiguous is the phrase they were searching for lol

[@robertpetre9378]

Tosin Abbasi is definitely one of the new generation of guitar virtuoso, which I think you will be seeing a lot more of in the future.

[@Greatmeasures]

Completely agree

[@rafanj824]

Tosin's playing is unbelievable. You can't believe some of the things he do. He's so economicaly effective with his movements, and his moves are so awkward. A true guitar genius.

[@VegasLoungeAct]

Tosin never has to worry about too many people covering his songs because his style is so unique and unusual.

[@moonloop6]

Why would he worry about people covering his stuff?

[@evylrune]

It's my favorite band.

[@sscillitani]

You should have him listen to Tigran Hamasyan if you haven't already. He's a pianist but he makes similar heavy but jazzy and experimental music.

[@Lloocii]

100%. Tigran is a bit of a genius. Even when I find a song I don't care for I still appreciate the approach. It's always unique but is still deeply rooted in some key elements like jazz, traditional Armenian music, and mathrock.

[@wolfMetall]

Nice. Now that you've done some AAL and some Devy I suggest you go check out the small riff out they did at Rick Beato's studio with John Petrucci. Just a mindblowing display of guitar prowess.

[@jjames6990]

If you haven't seen the recent podcast, Devin interviews Tosin for about an hour and it's so good. Devy is def my favorite musical artist currently alive, reminds me a lot of Zappa.

[@ovekmybalz6111]

I used to play shows with Tobias locally in a band called Reflux. Next level guitarist. Even back then.

[@Countachockula]

Tobias?

[@ovekmybalz6111]

Huh

[@ovekmybalz6111]

@@Countachockula Auto correct bitch.

[@Meister_Dwight]

Tobias even

[@ovekmybalz6111]

Toby

[@eliteextremophile8895]

I just can't get enough of Garstka. Obviously the whole trio is something else, but man Garstka has some of the most unique way of writing drums and the way he plays is graceful af. Like "pianist" said, the stuff they play isn't actually so complex, but the drum parts are absolutely insane. I can play pretty much each of their song on guitar, but I don't have enough brains to play those drum parts.

[@dannythebm]

Intro was fire, dang

[@luuukevader]

A guy reacting to a guy reacting to a song. We've come full circle!

[@PavelKravchenko666]

Hi! Just wanted to say, please keep this format up! I mean uninterrupted listening, with no stops and commentary during the song. Reactions to music are portrayed by emotions, not the words

[@MrHaggyy]

You should watch Javiers Solo stuff as well. Really great music. My brain is also still dancing. But part of Tosins formula is take a very common chord progression of 3 or 4 bars, speed it up to one bar arpeggio. This gives the listeners something that is familiar to them. On top of that they can add crazy stuff as 3+5+5+3 = 4 * 4 = 16. On top of that they like to slow down a melody into the chord progression. This gives the length fills and works because they mix time signatures. Their drummer must be a real beast. While Tosin and Javier usually stay within one time signature for one part he has to count all patterns at all time.

[@mikemaxwell3005]

It would be fun to see Judson to react to Glenn Gould 1951 Bach's Goldberg Variations and the 1981 revisit.

[@mikemaxwell3005]

Make sure to ask the record label first if you can.

[@Bomullspinne]

Loved the weezer tribute

[@notahoagie8470]

This song is great, but it's definitely not the first song from AAL that I'd show someone. This song was a very very different sounding treat that they gave to us

[@LiftedBlader]

I feel this, Para Mexar, Another Year, and similar songs are some of the best to first show people, especially those who generally aren't into metal. Gives them something to latch onto and maybe return to heavy music with a more open mind later

[@macklehnertmusic]

​@LiftedBlader Another Year is one of the greatest songs ever written in my opinion. It has such a vibe.

[@LeoAtlantideo]

THAT'S IT ..... i don't remember if i did it yet but,i wanted just to suggest them... 😉 I saw them alive.....they don't miss a note 💪🙏

[@konradlindblad7860]

This song melts my brain.

[@Roddrummer]

I'm a massive prog fan, Rush, Devin, Dream Theater, (heavy) Opeth etc etc are my favourite artists of all time. I saw AAL live several years ago, and it was STUNNING, but after about an hour of it, it was indeed overwhelming, even for me. A bazillion notes flying at you from all directions. It was just TOO MUCH! I don't think I'll go see them again 😥

[@ludvigsundby]

yeah that's how i feel about most prog, like i absolutey respect the insane musicianship that is required to pull something like that off but i usually can't get through much more that one or two songs until my brain is fried and it just sounds like blblblbbllblb for 90 minutes

[@Roddrummer]

@@ludvigsundby Some prog has repeated, catchy and triumphant hooks you can latch onto, and isn't just all blistering fretwork, complicated drumming and odd time signatures coming at you from go to woah. Check out Devin Townsend for example, if you haven't already.

[@ludvigsundby]

@@Roddrummer yeah that's fair enough, I guess I've just been put off by the "complicated just to be complicated" type of prog, but I might need to dive into it again

[@Roddrummer]

@@ludvigsundby Do. Start with Devin.

[@paulubben3570]

Ya I remember the universe having the same reaction to Einsteins e=mc2.. lol.. it's just an equation that he's using they said.. 😂😂😂😂😂

[@superlink235]

Non metal, but I'd be curious to see a reaction to Covet by Basement. Sorr of soft grunge 90s influenced emo band. Judson seems to love the 90s feels, or Using by Sorority Noise.

[@The512Dude]

Brain Dance is one of my favorite

[@xxitz_pr0gxx631]

This is my favorite AAL song!

[@sigrice]

Do Behaving Badly please this was awesome :D

[@ckokomo808]

Y’all should check out a band called Native Construct. It was a group of guys from Berkeley who released this album as a school project. They’re a theatrical prog metal group. My fav song is Passage! They have a few play through a on YT as well.

[@vonclod123]

Nice, been wondering if you'd do some AAL. CAFO would be another obvious pick.

[@psionic6126]

Finally 🙂 i guess it was hard to describe what this type of music does to you. Most of the people just don't understand whtat is actually happening there. But once you trained your ear to the point where this kind of music seems natural to you, you will see al the beauty in it.

[@berserker9647]

some fuckin weezer at the beggining lmao

[@stevenscott6658]

When you learn some of the techniques that Tosin uses (he actually teaches many of them for free on his youtube channel) you discover how to write some of the Tosin-like riffs/phrases. I think some of it comes out of the fact that the techniques can have an odd number of notes and he will just immediately repeat them rather than take a rest, which gives many of the off time phrasing. However, this is not something where he just uses a technique and that's that, he somehow takes that initial technical idea and leverages it to compose incredible sounding music, so even when you learn the technique he's vastly far away from you in terms of composition and the extent that he's taken the technique to. It's really inspiring at first and then when you understand what he's doing and you try it you realize how outrageous what he's accomplished is.

[@diegolorenzo1058]

Tienen unos videos muy buenos este grupo.

[@falseprophetband]

Hi, I don't know if you haven't already, but play your friend some dream theater! Maybe Scene Seven: I?

[@LeoFackingG]

More Animals As Leaders please!

[@MatusDust]

Fleshgod Apocalypse - The Violation :)

[@joshmorris9908]

Nice. I was wondering what you guys thought of them.

[@julessimon7665]

Finally great analysis. AAL one the greatest.

[@mesadrums375]

If you’re a pianist, I highly recommend a side project that their drummer Matt did with a couple other fantastic musicians called GEM, my personal favourite is Torque by GEM.

[@loganmccurdy1328]

What a treat

[@CLIFFLIX]

I think this is a pretty good band.

[@hugemetalfan6664]

If Judson likes this band he might like the band night verses. They are kinda like animal as leaders!

[@wemtiafi]

To me, this sounds like what would happen if you just let your drummer jam with no limits- then centered everything around that, technically speaking.

[@TheDrummerGeorge]

Please, do more reactions to Animals as Leaders, for example: CAFO (funny song btw xd)

[@JanssenReyes]

It would be awesome to see something of Gleb Kolyadin solo project !