One of the most talked about progressive metal bands in recent music history, Animals as Leaders, is back with another great album The Joy of Motion (Sumerian Records). The group is known for being musicians for the sake of making music. As such, they are a fairly accessible band and can appeal to listeners outside of the metal and hard rock genres. As the album title suggests, there is much movement to felt in the music.

Listeners are grabbed by the first track, ‘Ka$cade’ right away despite the possible allusion to Ke$ha in the title. One gets the sense that there is no disappointment waiting in this album. It is the type of album that one can jam to no matter the mood or circumstance.

In particular there is some great guitar work to be observed in ‘The Woven Web’. One can imagine a spider crawling around its web and catching prey just by listening to how the song changes from being on the quieter side to erupting into full metal mode about half way in. Another attention grabber is ‘Mind = Spun’. It starts off sounding eerie and recalls the 8-bit music used in classic horror videogames. Then the spinning begins and so does the journey.

Some who are listening to the band for the first time and have little experience with the progressive metal genre may be put off by the fact that there are no lyrics. No words are necessary however; the instruments speak for themselves. In each song, one can sense the thought and passion that went into making the album. Much of its value lies in the fact that it can be played on repeat without boredom. There is something new to observe with every listen.

8.0/10

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MELISSA CAMPBELL