Ancienne Belgique witnessed the first Animals as Leaders show in more than 10 years, and CtrlAltMusic was there too! Celebrating 10 years of The Joy of Motion, the instrumental prog metal trio gave us one hell of a facemelting show, joined by none other than Night Verses!
Going Through The 8 Gates of Pleasure – Night Verses
Calling the trio behind Night Verses talented would be an insult. Aric Improta, Nick DePirro, and Reilly Herrera are the embodiment of pure skill, effort, and work ethic. From the second they stepped foot on stage, they set the bar to eleven in terms of musicianship, delivering blow after blow – polyrhythm upon polyrhythm – while unleashing some of the nastiest, grooviest breakdowns Ancienne Belgique has seen in a while. While the band originally had a vocalist, they fully embraced the instrumental path, and not once did it feel like something was missing. Their compositions were so intricate and layered that vocals would almost have been unnecessary.
The band let the music speak for itself, keeping their words to a minimum – briefly introducing songs, thanking the crowd, and showing appreciation to Animals as Leaders for bringing them on tour – but never lingering too long. With such a short yet intense set, there was no room for distraction. Well, except for Aric. The ex-Fever 333 drummer, now also part of House of Protection, is a spectacle on his own. Sitting front and center alongside his two bandmates, he was impossible to ignore. From his tight chops and pinpoint electronic pad usage to hyping up the crowd and pulling off his signature high jumps using the kick drum as a step, his presence alone elevated the show to another level.
With no time to waste, they launched straight into ‘Arrival’ – a track that instantly showcased their ability to craft some of the most unique sounds in modern progressive metal. Nick’s masterful use of effects, perfectly woven together with Reilly’s thick basslines, hit the crowd with full force, especially during that infectiously hard-hitting breakdown. They followed with ‘Vice Wave’ off From the Gallery of Sleep, before diving back into their latest album with ‘Rose Wire’. The set continued with ‘Åska’, ‘8 Gates of Pleasure’, and ‘Karma Wheel’, each one further cementing the band’s ability to merge technical brilliance with raw intensity. Finally, they ended the set with ‘No.0’, wrapping up their performance with a final burst of energy.
It was an insanely quick passage on Ancienne Belgique’s main stage, leaving the crowd in awe but hungry for more. Thankfully, the band announced that they’ll be returning to Belgium for a headlining tour in the fall – promising an even bigger and more intense display of everything that makes Night Verses one of the most exciting instrumental acts out there.
Setlist: Arrival – Vice Wave – Rose Wire – Åska – 8 Gates Of Pleasure – Karma Wheel – No.0
Feeling The Joy of Motion – Animals as Leaders
In honor of the 10th anniversary of the legendary The Joy of Motion, Animals as Leaders finally returned to Belgium for the first time since their tour with Tesseract 12 years ago. And with that, the Belgian crowd was finally able to experience their iconic release in its entirety, played exactly the way it’s sitting on the record.
It would maybe be superfluous to repeat it, but calling the trio behind Animals as Leaders talented would also be an insult. The pure skill per square meter Ancienne Belgique hosted was unquantifiable. And to be honest, the crowd that this sort of band brings is usually other musicians, easily proved by some of the most on-time clapping I’ve heard from the crowd ever!
They obviously opened the show with ‘Kaskade’, taking us straight into The Joy of Motion without further ado. Before continuing with ‘Lippincott’, Tosin Abasi had a little bit of a struggle with his pedals, letting out the most honest “Shit” followed by “Fuck it, let’s go.” It proves that behind that inhuman level of musicianship, it’s still just three dudes on stage in front of us. After struggling a little bit more with hardware, they started ‘Air Chrysalis’, taking the crowd up into the clouds before diving back to Earth by the end of the song. Then came ‘Another Year’, the happiest song the band has probably ever written according to Tosin Abasi. It’s a song extremely reminiscent of that Math Rock sound with a little bit of the Animals as Leaders flair. For the couple of jazz fans here, the band threw in The Lick, almost managing to sneak it past the attentive ears of their fans but still getting some laughing reactions from the front row.
We then got to the most awaited song of the night, and the most well-known track of the trio – ‘Physical Education’. Getting to witness this on Belgian soil was a delight, sending the crowd into a frenzy. This song, together with ‘The Woven Web’ played later, are some of the best proof that you don’t need a bassist, just a guitar with enough chords to entirely replace said bassist. While this song finishes with a classic ‘80s fadeout on the album, we’re instead delighted by an absolute beast of a solo by Matt Garstka before taking us straight into ‘Tooth and Claw’, closely followed by ‘Crescent’ and ‘The Future That Awaited Me’.
‘Para Mexer’ was the following song from the set. Entirely composed by Javier Reyes, it proves even harder the versatility of this band by ditching the metal strings for nylon and shredding just as well on them. This was followed by ‘The Woven Web’, a song that has marked an entire generation of musicians. The thumping riff at around 1:30 is easily one of—if not the most difficult guitar riffs to achieve. The bass techniques Tosin brings to guitar are mind-boggling. Seeing it live for the first time completely melted the faces off of the first row.
The album – as well as the set – then ended off with ‘Mind-Spun’ followed by ‘Nephele’. These two tracks are a perfect way to finish the set, showcasing for one last time the summed-up skill and effort between the three members of Animals as Leaders. But would it really be a concert if the headlining band didn’t play the encore game? I don’t think so. To truly close off their set, we got to hear ‘Micro-Aggressions’, ‘Gordian Naught’, ‘Red Miso’ and ‘Monomyth’ from their 2022 album Parrhesia.
Setlist: Kaskade – Lippincott – Air Chrysalis – Another Year – Pysical Education – Tooth and Claw – Crescent – The Future That Awaited Me – Para Mexer – The Woven Web – Mind-Spun – Nephele
Encore: Micro-Agressions – Goridan Naught – Red Miso – Monomyth