Review by Adam M on December 6, 2016.

Instrumental flourishes are on display with Animals as Leaders. The band does a good job conveying the particular mood that is desired. This is often a subtle mood that the music fills in appropriately.

Instrumentally, the music is heavily bass driven and features sporadic displays of musicianship on the part of the guitars. The music is certainly adventurous and features a lot of noodling that is held back from overindulgence by reasonably solid song-writing. As seen from the track Apeirophobia there is a possibility for flamenco guitars along with the standard instrumental displays that are common on The Madness of Many. The music is sporadic in nature and doesn’t hold to a specific mood at any particular juncture. This makes for a constantly changing variety of music quite nicely. The need to constantly evolve is what keeps this band above the typical instrumental music and puts Animals as Leaders into a realm that belongs to them. This distinctiveness present is largely why I prefer the band to other instrumental acts. Of course, there are issues with the style present. Memorable moments are hard to come by and last for very short junction of time. The music has a manner of gliding over the listener without making a huge impact. The funky bass lines draw people into the experience, but the lack of a standout characteristic in the guitars at times makes the music simply pass on by. The music doesn’t define itself as well as it should, but is very free form in nature.

People that like this open-ended style of performance will be very fond of the music, however. Fans of instrumental music should find something to love with The Madness of Many and other people vaguely interested in the genre should try the band as well as it may be an exciting new discovery.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10