Animals as Leaders released The Madness of Many on November 11, 2016, through Sumerian Records. Their fourth studio album put guitarists Tosin Abasi and Javier Reyes and drummer Matt Garstka in charge of production, with Reyes also handling the mix. The opening track, “Arithmophobia,” captured how much the band’s working relationship had changed.
After touring behind The Joy of Motion, the trio deliberately cleared space for new ideas. Abasi told Media Mikes in November 2016 that they stopped booking shows and spent about a year off the road. He wanted enough distance between records for the next one to develop its own character. That break also gave the musicians time to practice independently and follow interests outside the demands of the band. When they regrouped, they initially expected to prepare demos and then involve a producer. As the material developed, that extra stage seemed less necessary. Abasi described a growing conviction that the musicians playing the songs should also make the creative decisions.
Sharing those decisions meant changing where a song could begin. In a December 2016 interview with New Noise Magazine, Abasi explained that he had arrived with fewer prepared guitar ideas, leaving more room for the three musicians to work together. His usual process started with riffs, a click track and programmed drums. On “Arithmophobia,” Garstka supplied a drum composition first, and the guitarists built their parts and harmonies around it. “I’ve never really composed to drums,” Abasi said. The album opened with a piece whose rhythmic foundation had helped determine the writing.
Its title had a joke tucked inside it, too. Reyes told May the Rock Be With You in December 2016 that the apparently bewildering rhythms were in 4/4. Naming the song after a fear of numbers was the band’s way of having some fun with that impression of complexity.
The production choices left more room for the musicians’ performances. Speaking to Premier Guitar in January 2017, Reyes explained that the band had tried mixes from three other people before choosing his own, which were closer to what they wanted. He also said Garstka’s drums received less editing than on their previous records. Abasi wanted minimal timing correction, and the guitars used restrained gain to keep the notes clear. Those decisions supported a record built around the interaction of three players, including the small variations that heavy editing can flatten.
That emphasis on interaction still left the band thinking about listeners who weren’t studying the playing. In the May the Rock Be With You interview, Reyes described building instrumental songs around a memorable central theme and keeping their length under control. He wanted the music to hold attention in concert and reach people beyond fellow guitarists and drummers. The arrangements could be demanding without losing a recognizable musical idea.
The guitar choices widened that range of expression. Abasi used a nine-string on “Private Visions of the World,” while “The Brain Dance” featured Reyes’ signature Ortega eight-string classical guitar. Across the 10-track sequence, those instruments gave the two guitarists different ways to divide melody, harmony and rhythm. “The Brain Dance” occupied the penultimate slot, followed by the closing “Apeirophobia.” In the same Premier Guitar interview, Abasi pointed to Reyes’ parts on those two closing tracks as examples of his expanded role beyond rhythm guitar.
