I know I don’t do album reviews too much but I would only write an album review of a national album if I feel if it’s worth writing and this one is it. I’ve been reading a lot about Animals as Leaders through Guitar World magazine. The hype of that band have been going through that magazine and I’ve been interested in checking these guys out for a while… thanks to Guitar World. I used to dislike musicians who play 7 to 8 string guitars ’cause I always thought it was pretty silly and gimmicky to me but after hearing this album, I’ve grown a change of heart with musicians who plays guitars with more than 6 strings.

Animals as Leaders, “The Joy Of Motion” is a pretty sick album. It’s all instrumental music. Animals As Leaders is known as an instrumental prog-metal. Tosin Abasi, is the main guy of the band. Tosin plays the 8 string guitar for this album. In my opinion, I think Tosin is one of the best guitarists alive in the industry today and I think he’s gonna be the Hendrix of this generation. This album is more than just prog metal. It has a little bit of everything on it. Jazz, fusion, rock, blues, classical, etc. I like instrumental guitar albums and this is one of the best instrumental records I’ve heard in a long time. This album, “The Joy of Motion” will be looked at as a classic years from now.

Tosin Abasi is a black guy, by the way. Not all black dudes are into rap/hip hop music, lol. Some of them are even into rock and heavy stuff like a lot of us.

I would recommend you check out this album. You may not be into this type of music that much but I’d think you’d like it. Instrumental guitar music haven’t been that popular over the years and I think Animals as Leaders can make that genre big again. I was blown away with this album and this makes me want to buy the first two Animals as Leaders records. Tosin is a talented guitarist and makes me respect the guy.

This album makes me want to make instrumental guitar music myself someday. I’ll do it when I’m ready. I just gotta improve my lead guitar chops and then I’ll consider a guitar-only album with no vocals.

Kev