Animals as Leaders formed after guitarist Tosin Abasi's previous
metalcore band,
Reflux, disbanded. The
heavy metal record label Prosthetic Records saw Abasi's guitar work and asked him to create a solo album for them. Abasi initially declined, feeling such an endeavor would be "...egotistical and unnecessary." The project's first album,
Animals as Leaders, was recorded in early 2008. Abasi recorded most guitar and bass tracks on the album; a few guitar solos, drums and various synthesized effects were programmed by
engineer Misha Mansoor of
Periphery and Haunted Shores. In 2010, the band toured extensively, including the 2010
Summer Slaughter Tour with such acts as
Decapitated,
Vital Remains,
Carnifex,
The Faceless,
All Shall Perish,
The Red Chord,
Cephalic Carnage,
Veil of Maya, and
Decrepit Birth and since Summer Slaughter has toured with more mainstream acts like Circa Survive and Dredg. They uploaded a non-album digital single called
Wave of Babies to iTunes later that year. The band embarked on a tour alongside
Circa Survive,
Dredg, and
Codeseven from mid-2010 to early 2011, and in early 2011, toured alongside
Underoath,
Thursday, and
A Skylit Drive to promote Underoath's latest release,
Ø (Disambiguation). On May 26, 2011, Animals as Leaders took part in a
Red Cross benefit show titled "
Josh Barnett Presents The Sun Forever Rising" at the House of Blues in West Hollywood, California. Shortly thereafter, they headlined their first tour, which included opening acts
Intronaut,
Dead Letter Circus,
Last Chance to Reason, and
Evan Brewer. On July 27, 2011, during a show at the Masquerade in Atlanta, Georgia, Tosin Abasi announced that they were recording the show for a live DVD. The band was billed as the first support of
Between the Buried and Me on their European tour in September 2011, also with the French band Doyle. That same year, as a follow-up to their self-titled album, the band released their LP, entitled
Weightless, on November 8 in the United States, November 4 in Europe, and November 7 in the UK. In Spring 2012, Animals as Leaders embarked on a headlining tour of Europe, then returned to North America to open for
Thrice.
Navene Koperweis left Animals as Leaders that March. Prosthetic Records then announced on March 23 that drummer
Matt Garstka would join them on tour. "We see nothing but great potential with Matt, and look forward to performing with him on the upcoming tours," Abasi says. "We feel very excited for the future of AAL, which is brighter than ever. I'm beyond excited for our fans to hear some of the new music we already have brewing for the future!" On November 28, 2012,
Misha Mansoor, the producer for the first Animals as Leaders album, announced that he had begun writing riffs with Tosin Abasi, intending to start recording on their third album. Two days later, it was confirmed that Mansoor was recording the band after the completion of two songs. On February 14, 2014, the band announced their third studio album,
The Joy of Motion, which was released via
Sumerian Records on March 25, 2014. On February 2, 2016, they revealed on Instagram that they were working on their fourth studio album. On September 22, they revealed that the album would be titled
The Madness of Many, and would be released on November 11, 2016. On September 30, they released a single from the album, "The Brain Dance". On October 18, they released another song from the album, "Arithmophobia". This song features extensive use of odd-metered
rhythm, hence its name. On September 1, 2021, the band released "Monomyth" as a single. It was elected by
Loudwire as the 20th-best metal song of 2021. American rapper and producer
JPEGMafia sampled the single for the song "END CREDITS!" of the offline version of his album,
LP!. On November 18, 2021, the band announced their fifth studio album titled
Parrhesia and released a single from the album, "The Problem of Other Minds." The album was released on March 25, 2022. In a February 28, 2025 interview with
Guitar World, Abasi said the band plans to begin pre-production of their new album. He stated he wants to spend a portion of the year writing the record, and hopefully recording it by the end of the year. Animals as Leaders will support
Steve Vai and
Joe Satriani on their 2026 North American "
SATCHVAI" tour. In February 2026, the band was announced as part of the lineup for the
Louder Than Life music festival in
Louisville, scheduled to take place in September. ==Style==