The technical masters of instrumental math/prog metal-Animals As Leaders descended on Bangalore on 25th August 2024. As expected, the show was a marvel to experience-and showed the mastodons of the genre at their best. Held at Phoenix Marketcity in Whitefield, the concert was part of the Parhessia tour by the band. The opening acts were LETTERZ and Bangalore’s very own Inner Sanctum.
If you’re opening for a band that is technically tighter than space in a Mumbai local train, you better bring it. Relatively underrated band LETTERZ shone with their performance, though the crowd was sparse. That didn’t deter them from giving their best-owing that they’re opening the show. Crafted to detail and precision, the sound was incredible. After a 40 minute or so set, the larger crowd had started to trickle in. Crowd and Phoenix Marketcity – there’s a weird relationship.
Though this is the preferred venue for the Oddball Festival, Steve Vai, and The Aristrocrats; along with legends from India like Asha Bhosle, Sonu Nigam, Vineeth Sreenivasan, Shaan and more – it suffers from a major problem. The open venue is the exciting part, the freeloaders – not so much.
As the open space is surrounded by the mall, several restaurants enjoy balcony class privileges. If you want to support a band, you might as well pay the ticket price and walk in. If not, your Barbeque Nation at 4pm with a long wait might be the answer. What it leads to here although, is new fans being born every minute. We’re all for it, except the free ticket jealousy.
Animals As Leaders weren’t going to make a mellow entrance. That is why Inner Sanctum took to the stage, to get the blood boiling. With their thrash-heavy and fueled sound, people were prepped for the main gig. March of the Wounded, Guardian and Divided by Hate made small swirling mosh pits with half drunk fans wading in.
Tosin Abasi, Javier Reyes and Matt Gartska are the tour de force that is Animals As Leaders. With each album and release, they experiment and innovate further. Though Parrhesia innovated the hell out of the genre, fans did feel a little disconnect. However, there are outstanding songs like Monomyth and Red Miso from the album that show the trio at their finest. The crowd practically marveled at their ability to recreate the albums sound to the best of their ability.
You could hear participation in Physical Education and Woven Web. Basically, songs where you can keep track of the wild time signatures with some self-respect. Faster, harder songs led to mixed mosh pits, which is expected when such a complex song is played. All came to listen to metal. Except the ones in the mall. All left happy, however.
You can check out the tracklist below and listen to the bands playlist while being bewildered about their virtuosic ability. Animals As Leaders lead the way by example, and what a ride that was.
Set List From the Bangalore Show
- Tooth and Claw
- Ectogenesis
- Gordian Naught
- Gestaltzerfall
- Red Miso
- Conflict Cartography
- Inner Assassins
- Micro-Aggressions
- Monomyth
- Physical Education
- The Woven Web
- CAFO (encore)
