ANIMALS AS LEADERS GUITARIST DRAFTED FOR SUMMER SLAUGHTER

Tosin Abasi to join Born Of Osiris on “the most extreme tour of the year”

 ANIMALS AS LEADERS guitarist Tosin Abasi will join Sumerian recording artists Born of Osiris on this year’s Summer Slaughter tour, which kicks of June 5 in Baltimore, Md. The seven-week traveling festival, co-headlined by Necrophagist and Suffocation, will serve as Abasi’s first national tour since his former band, Reflux, disbanded in 2005.

“I’m very excited to join these guys on stage and to see all the other great bands on Summer Slaughter,” Abasi says.

Earlier this year, Abasi returned to the spotlight with his new progressive instrumental project, ANIMALS AS LEADERS. The group’s self-titled debut, which was been hailed by MetalSucks as “intricate instru-metal of the highest caliber,” is a 12-track collection of guitar-driven progressive instrumentals with ambient and electronic influences, providing a scintillating showcase for one of the finest young guitarists in rock today.

“I definitely wanted to make an album that was ‘guitar-centric,’ but also interesting from other perspectives,” Abasi explains. He succeeded, as his dazzling performances on both 7- and 8-string guitars are flashy and technical, yet also tasteful and melodic.

Abasi recently conducted an extensive interview with AOL’s metal blog Noisecreep, where the Washington, D.C.-based guitarist discussed the rise in popularity of the 8-string guitar, his playing technique and what he’s trying to accomplish with ANIMALS AS LEADERS. That feature can be read here: http://www.noisecreep.com/2009/05/07/talking-guitar-with-animals-as-leaders-tosin/

Also, Abasi has unveiled two new video lessons in which he demonstrates his considerable talents. In addition to a performance snippet of one of the solo sections in “Tempting Time,” a track currently streaming on the ANIMALS AS LEADERS MySpace page, Abasi has also posted a clip called “Deconstructing ‘CAFO,'” in which he details how to play one of the ascending guitar lines to “CAFO,” another track from AAL’s self-titled debut. Both videos have been posted at www.myspace.com/animalsasleaders.