(Very) technical Metal

These three "bands" blast their through their albums using nothing but very complex structures... mind masturbation.

Blotted Science is best rated in PA (4.45, one album), then Animals as leaders (4.09, one album) and Behold... the Arctopus is under 4...

I guess Behold... the Arctopus have the worst sound in terms of quality, but has amazing compositions in my opinion.
Blotted Science has a clean sound, but not very varied, maybe a bit raw but their album Machinations of Dimentia is practically flawless.
Animals as Leaders is probably the most ambitious of the three, combining electronic sounds with violent guitars, thrash solos and astonishing progressions.

Behold... the Arctopus is probably the only one from these three that actually has ambient, dark passages which are cruelly absent with the other two...

Tough choice for me anyways.

The "Blotted Science" album is really good. Haven't heard "Behold...the Arctopus" yet, but I'd strongly consider putting the "Animals as Leaders" debut above BS. I also got to see AaL open for Between the Buried and Me earlier this month. Tosin Abasin is an absolutely mind-blowing guitarist.

Behold... is probably the most interesting and deep band amongst these. However, if Spastic Ink were on their I'd chose them.

I've never heard anything from Blotted Science, so no vote for now.

I haven't heard of The Blotted Science, but I've heard the rest. Behold... the Arctopus generally plays their "music" with a high level of technicality, with unpredictable, crazy jams offering something new to explore. I smile every time something weird is going on.
But Animals As Leaders takes my vote, due to making it quite technical and still gets catchier and more interesting than any solo guitarist projects I've ever so far. Even the electronics are well put to use and help set the atmosphere and some textures into the songs.

Blotted Science for me, amazing band. Behold.. The Arctopus is just too cold for me, and though I really like Animals as Leaders, they strike me as being too similar to Canvas Solaris without being quite as good as them (CS would have easily won for me if they were included). 

TheProgtologist wrote: I like all three but Behold...The Arctopus is a cut above the rest.Extremely good band,and for everyone that likes them I urge you to check out the various side projects the band members are involved in(Dysrhythmia,Byla.Krallice,Indricothere and Blotted Science).   In case you guys didn't know Charlie Zeleny left BtA to pursue a career as a studio musician.He has been replaced by Weasel Walter,a founding member of the band The Flying Luttenbachers.Also,Colin Marsden will be playing bass for the reunited Gorguts.

I've only heard a smidgen of Blotted Science and Animals as Leaders but I find Behold the Arctopus incredible. With most technical metal band they retain the same mood and repeat things a lot (even if it's very complex). With Behold the Arctopus what's coming up next is almost completely unpredictable, in terms of chord changes, rythmic patterns, phrasing, or time signature. Which is why I enjoy them more than a lot of their contemporaries.

The Pessimist wrote: Behold... is probably the most interesting and deep band amongst these. However, if Spastic Ink were on their I'd chose them.

Khah... forgot Spastic Ink... good choice!