Not long ago, we posted a video retrospective of the meteoric career of multi-instrumentalist Navene Koperweis. When we did that, we had trouble finding a decent performance video of Animals As Leaders — the band in which Koperweis plays drums with the godlike Tosin Abasi on guitar. Now, METAL INJECTION has remedied that problem.
They were on hand when AAL played the Sonar in Baltimore on the SUMMER SLAUGHTER 2010 tour and filmed some of the band’s performance using multiple cameras. The video quality and the sound quality are both far superior to any other videos currently available of AAL playing live.
The one at the top of this post is the song “Tempting Time”, and after the jump, we’ve got a second METAL INJECTION video of “Wave of Babies”. If this doesn’t make you come, then it’s possible you were neutered in your sleep last night. Plus, when’s the last time you saw a metal guitarist playing in a polo shirt and white shorts?
4 Responses to “AAL LIVE!”
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Holy Shit those guys are good!
They really are. To me, even if you’re not super-excited about the style of the music, you’ve got to be very impressed by watching them perform at this level without a studio safety net. And of course it’s even better if you really like the music, too.
Count me in as super-impressed with their musical ability, but not a fan of their music.
In my opinion, vocals give metal a sound it needs to succeed. I see the vocalist as another instrument, just as important as guitar, bass and drums. I know AAL writes their songs devoid of lyrics and a vocalist, but just like other instrumental bands, their overall sound just seems lacking. They are all great musicians, but I think the absence of vocals hurt them. Steve Vai, for an example, is a guitar virtuoso, but I could barely make it through his songs because, while technically impressive and sections were absolutely beautiful, it got to be boring as hell listening to it after more than one track.
I know you’re not the only one who feels this way about metal, and usually I’m with you, but I really like listening to AAL’s songs and in fact I don’t think I would like them as much if they had integrated a vocalist into the mix. I’m also really biased by their live shows, two of which I’ve seen (and one more is on the horizon). It’s fun to watch a whole audience headbanging with their mouths open in wonder at the same time.