Animals As Leaders announce Parrhesia, their first studio album in more than 5 years

After months of teasing and more than five years of waiting, Animals As Leaders have finally announced that their new album, Parrhesia, is set to arrive next year.

Due March 25 via Sumerian Records, Parrhesia will be the prog-metal outfit’s first new full-length offering in half a decade, and will follow 2016’s The Madness Of Many.

It’s been a long wait for Animals As Leaders fans, but the band have softened the blow of a further five-month wait by dropping a new track, The Problem of Other Minds, which will join up with the recently released Monomyth.

In just two-and-a-half minutes, Tosin Abasi and his bandmates – drummer Matt Garstka and guitarist Javier Reyes – demonstrate why they are at the forefront of the prog-metal scene. An arpeggiated synth whets the appetite, and canters along at speed underneath some melodic electric guitar counterpoint licks and melodic percussion.

As always, Abasi’s Neural DSP-powered lead tone is to die for, playing host to a subtle blues-esque slide that precedes some sublime soloing and meaty chugs. 

There’s a fair amount of rhythmic intrigue in there, too, thanks to some rolling lead licks that glide across shifting time signatures.

Accompanying the track is an official music video directed by Telavaya Reynolds, who also joined forces with the band for Monomyth's music video.

Of the effort, Abasi commented, “It’s been a while since we’ve released a body of work. We’re really proud of this collection of songs as well as the visual components, and are excited to share it with all of you.”

The tracklist for Parrhesia can be found below.

1. Conflict Cartography
2. Monomyth
3. Red Miso
4. Gesaltzerfall
5. Asahi
6. The Problem Of Other Minds
7. Thoughts And Prayers
8. Micro-Aggressions
9. Gordian Night

Parrhesia has been a long time coming. In August, Abasi shared a tap-heavy teaser clip and declared Animals As Leaders had finished tracking their at-the-time untitled album.

More recently, the trio dropped Monomyth – the first single to be taken from Parrhesia – which was followed by a scorching playthrough courtesy of Tosin Abasi and his eight-string Abasi Concepts Master Series Larada.

• Parrhesia is available to preorder now ahead of its March 25 release.