"Animals As Leaders" is the solo project of shredtastic prog guitarist Tosin Abasi. This self titled album (100% instumental btw) is basically jazz influenced metal, with some electronics thrown in for good measure. The drums, notably, are all programmed.
Sure, Tosin's not the first one to combine metal with jazz sensibilities, but he does it very well. On top of that his guitar skillz are pretty insane, and the songs he writes don't sacrifice their melodic ideas for sheer technicality (most of the time). Some moments can get pretty heavy but the album sometimes goes through several songs in a row without doing so. In the end, what makes this album stand out is that it's just as beautiful as it is impressive: one thing that even the most skilled technical bands sometimes fail to achieve.
