In the beginning, there was rhythm, and in music, a meter is the fundamental rhythmic framework, basically the way the beats are organized in order to make you shuffle your feet or bob your head to the music. Meters can be duple (groups of two), triple (groups of three), or quadruple (groups of four). To make matters worse, these meters can also be either simple or compound, with the latter implying that the beat is divided into three or even subdivided into six. Handy? Then, the time signature is a musical notation that tells how many beats there are in each measure. In our everyday parlance, these terms are often interchangeable. However, strictly speaking, music theory says they aren’t. Essentially, the time signature is how we write down the meter to represent the rhythmic feel of the piece of music. It implies a specific meter but the meter can still be felt quite differently. For example, the meter of 15/4 could be felt as a rhythmic motif comprised of either three measures of 5/4 or five measures of 3/4. Sometimes the notation is just way more readable if it is written in 15/4 instead of 5/4 or 3/4. It all depends on the context.
Now, I’m glad we got that math bit sorted out. The thing is, quite a few metal bands, particularly those from the progressive fringes, frequently put weird time signatures to good use, such as 5/4, 7/8, 9/4, 11/8, and 15/4, in order to create those wild riffs and unique rhythmic patterns. You know what I’m talking about; even if we leave out the most outrageous avant-garde acts, there are lots of popular prog-metal bands, such as TOOL, OPETH, HAKEN, MESHUGGAH, and DREAM THEATER, that must have made you wonder more than a few times what evil time signatures those mind-bending riffs really bounce in. Maybe you picked up a pencil and tapped it against a desk to figure it out – and if you were lucky, you managed to decipher the enigmatic rhythm code. For this blog piece, I decided to take a closer look at ten songs that rip a hole in the very fabric of spacetime with their ingenious use of odd time signatures. A disclaimer might be in order, though – I also decided NOT to choose some of the most obvious classics of this field. Songs such as “The Dance of Eternity” by DREAM THEATER or “Lateralus” by TOOL have been so thoroughly analyzed by myriad Internet rhythm doctors that I don’t think there is much left for me to add to the lore, anymore. Yeah, we all know by now that the former is arguably one of the most complex songs ever written as it changes its time signature like a hundred times in 6 minutes. We also know that the latter is quite an exercise in the musical use of sacred geometry, what with the Fibonacci sequence and all. Still, I think both bands have way better songs in their catalogs when it comes to delicious, off-kilter grooves. There, I said it. Now I’m going to have to include at least a song per band from these prog monoliths to appease the wrath of their fans, but that leaves me with eight more songs that challenge you to give that pencil a run for the money. Then, as you can see, there aren’t any songs by MESHUGGAH on my list. The reason is very simple. As mind-bending as their riffathons sound at first, the time signature is quite often merely that pedestrian 4/4. The trick is that the band has developed one hell of a knack for using fractal-like polyrhythms to create that feeling of being thrust through a wormhole. I’ve seen people decipher those riff fractals on YouTube but I’m not going to try any of that. My life is too short – and I’ve run out of pencils already.
I decided to include a bonus track or two, as well, even though the artists are not exactly metal. The atmosphere, however, is metal as fuck, what with those evil riffs bouncing around in weird time signatures. So, without further ado, here goes:
WHEEL: FUGUE
Released as a single from their 2021 album “Resident Human,” the song “Fugue” by the Finnish quantum-proggers, WHEEL, is by far one of the most delicious songs that use a 9-based time signature. Bach enthusiasts might wonder why the song was entitled “Fugue” as fugues in classical music are typically in 4/4. In this case, the title was inspired by Dan Simmons’s sci-fi series Hyperion Cantos rather than classical music; in the books, cryogenic fugues allow individuals to enter a form of stasis, enabling them to cross vast cosmic distances. Interestingly, the convenience of this suspended state presents a risk of brain damage, much like the diabolical grooves on the band’s latest studio album “Charismatic Leaders,” released last year. That is, if you try to decipher those serpentine riffs into a neat time signature. I chose this older track from them because, in my opinion, it is no small feat to make 9/4 sound so goddamn beautiful without falling into the trap of cocktail jazz. (The song, “Concealed” on the new FRACTAL UNIVERSE album, “The Great Filters,” seems, at a glance, to make bloody good use of the number 9, as well, but I haven’t yet figured out the rhythm code to say for sure…)
HAKEN: PAREIDOLIA
British prog juggernaut HAKEN have carved their entire career out of weird time signatures. So, basically, you could choose any song from their back catalog and it is very likely some weird-meter riffathon. My go-to song from the band, in this respect, will probably forever be “Pareidolia” from their 2013 album “The Mountain.” The intro kicks off with a nice quintuple feel that lasts for some time. Then, things start to get substantially more unhinged. The section with that badass, klezmer mandolin is extremely difficult to put into a neat time signature. I’ve read somewhere that it mixes septuple meter and 13/16 but I cannot say for sure. What matters most is that the section really slaps! It is rather strongly reminiscent of MR. BUNGLE‘s “Ars Moriendi” from their 1999 album “California.” Without Mike Patton‘s over-the-top vocals, that is. I guess half the fun is not being able to pinpoint the time signature of this riffage exactly. To put it mildly, the “unusual” groupings of those funny little notes contribute to the song’s mind-melting effect quite prominently.
TOOL: JAMBI
Given the topic of my blog entry, there’s no way I could ignore the works of TOOL. They are another bunch of proggy metal rogues that have made it a priority to write their riffs in odd time signatures. So, there are a lot of songs to choose from, but my absolute favorite from them, not only concerning off-kilter meters, is the song “Jambi,” from their 2006 album “10,000 Days.” It is another song that puts a 9-based time signature to good use. The song features sections in 6/4 as well, but mostly it is in 9/8 time. Well, there are some mind-bending polyrhythms, too, like when the drums and bass shift back from 6/4 while the guitar does not, but the meatiest hook of the song is still that opening 9/8 riff. It is a prime example that these 9/8 compound triple meters do not always have to sound like Dave Brubeck‘s “Blue Rondo à la Turk” or ethnic folk with a twist.
OPETH: DELIVERANCE
OPETH is yet another prog-metal juggernaut that is famous for utilizing crazy time signatures in nothing short of a delicious way. Since I haven’t yet touched on the septuple meter in depth, OPETH‘s definitive prog epic from 20-something years ago shall do the honors. The title track from their 2002 studio album “Deliverance” is by far one of the most beautiful metal songs with motifs written in septuple meter. While the 7/8 time signature is not utilized throughout the entire song, those parts that do feature this beautiful meter work wonders in conjunction with the 4/4 sections. In fact, only the intro riff, the first breakdown, and the first solo are in septuple meter. Mostly, the song is in 4/4, even the epic outro. What makes those septuple parts stand out is the ingenious play on dynamics, which has since become the band’s trademark of sorts. I must say the septuple sections in this banger are probably the most beautiful 7/8 parts I’ve ever heard, to be honest.
SOUNDGARDEN: LIMO WRECK
My first experience with the somewhat other-worldly time signature of 15/8 was probably the song, “Limo Wreck,” from SOUNDGARDEN‘s epochal 1994 album “Superunknown.” This is one of those songs that brilliantly dissolve the 15/8 feel with the way the riffs are phrased. When I first heard the song, I didn’t think, “Wow, the time signature must be really crazy!” I just thought the riff had a diabolical groove to it. The thing is, the main motif in the verses is comprised of five measures of 3/4. So, I reckon these parts could be written in 3/4, as well, but some of the syncopations might look weird if you tried to read the notation sheet in that time signature. I guess this song is similar to SNARKY PUPPY‘s jazz banger “Outlier,” time-wise; it is also structured in a 5-bar phrase in 3/4, but the overall feel is more complex due to rhythmic accents, hence it is thought to be in 15/4 instead.
JAKUB TIRCO: THE END OF ALL THINGS
Hailing from the Czech Republic, prog guitarist Jakub Tirco entered the scene with a jaw-dropping debut “Alaska” in 2022. Its absolute standout track, “The End of All Things,” featured Baard Kolstad of LEPROUS on drums and his metric modulations elevated this banging track to a league of its own. The song alternates between 11/8 and 7/8 in a nothing short of haunting manner. It is not very common to come across 11-based meters even in prog but Tirco makes this weird meter slap like nothing to it. Plus, the transition to 7/8 for the solo is pure ear candy! I must admit that this song kicked ass so hard when it came out, in fact, that I had to import it to my DAW to figure out the meter. Now, three years after its release, I still listen to it on a regular basis.
DREAM THEATER: ANSWERING THE CALL
Okay, while this song is by far not such a record-breaking mess of different meters like “The Dance of Eternity,” the banging riff origami entitled “Answering the Call” from DREAM THEATER‘s 2021 album “A View From the Top of the World” is easily one of the grooviest bangers in the band’s whole repertoire. Plus, it features ample twists and turns with regard to its time signature, too. The main riff can be thought of as one bar of 7/4 followed by a bar of 6/4. So, maybe it could be written in 13/4, as well? I’m not sure. The song has sections in 4/4, too, and then, there are a few sections that I haven’t got the faintest idea about, yet. Maybe I ought to import this song into my DAW to make sense of it. DREAM THEATER has not always impressed me with their over-the-top oddball riffs, but this one slaps! The song is right on par with the band’s greatest achievements if you ask me.
OCEANSIZE: COMMEMORATIVE T-SHIRT
According to legend, the reason why the opener from the 2007 OCEANSIZE album “Frames” alternates between 11/8 and 9/8 time signatures was a comment made by the singer of THE CARDIACS after selling their band T-shirt to OCEANSIZE vocalist Mike Vennart. The comment allegedly was “Oh, here’s one of our commemorative 9/11 T-shirts.” The record label wasn’t exactly comfortable with the title, hence it got shortened, but the 9/11 theme remained in the rhythmic patterns of the riffs. The opening riff (most of the song, really) is in 11/8 and makes that weird meter sound damn delicious, although I still think that Jakub Tirco did it better! This song is a solid banger, though, don’t get me wrong! Like someone on Reddit once said, it’s too on-the-nose in all the right ways. Oddly enough, “Charm Offensive,” opening their previous, 2005 album “Everyone Into Position” also featured the time signature of 11/8 quite prominently. Both songs slap hard, albeit the latter is by far more “floaty” in its atmospheric psychedelia.
VOLA: FUTURE BIRD
The Danish prog monolith, VOLA, has incorporated odd time signatures in their songs from day one but I decided to go with the atmospheric off-kilter beauty, “Future Bird,” from their haunting 2021 album “Witness” for this list. At the time of the album release, this particular song was perhaps slightly overshadowed by the singles that stole all the limelight. I’ve seen the band on stage twice but I’ve yet to hear the live rendition of this banger. I think the song is entirely in septuple meter, all the way through, but the way VOLA makes those oddball riffs grind and flow forward might fool you into thinking that this song is not in any weird prog time signature. Then, when you put your ear to it, you realize it is. The song has a nice swing to it, almost sounding as if it were in triplet meter.
KARNIVOOL: DEADMAN
Australian proggers KARNIVOOL are another bunch of genuine rhythm senseis when it comes to making weird time signatures sound like the most natural thing in the world. Their 2009 album “Sound Awake” is a real cornucopia of proggy meters used in this way. The band has way more off-kilter bangers in their catalog than this 12-minute epic from that album, but I decided to pick it because some of its sections seem to divide fans as to what the actual time signature is. Ironically, it sounds as if most of the song was in 4/4, but then, the middle section shifts to 6/4, and some say there is a 3/8 motif woven within the pedestrian, common time sections. Then, to my ears, the section where the band’s drummer Steve Judd goes for that rim-shot thingy sounds an awful lot like it’s in 9/8. Alternative views say the song is mostly in 12/8 (I think it is), or alternating between 11/8 and 13/8 (that’s harder to tell). Go figure. The point is, any way you prefer to view the song’s rhythmic structure, it’s not exactly a stroll in the park!
Bonus: MAHAVISHU ORCHESTRA: THE DANCE OF MAYA
The bonus track comes from the 1971 debut, “The Inner Mounting Flame,” of jazz-rock fusion legends MAHAVISHNU ORCHESTRA led by one of the greatest guitar luminaries of the 1970s, John McLaughlin. “The Dance of Maya” is mostly in 10/8 time, although the song is infested with all sorts of sonic witchery, like using melodic motifs from other songs on the album – motifs that could be viewed as being in 9/8, 7/4, or even 18/8. The notation sheet that I once found for the song was written in 10/8 throughout the song, however. So, I guess we can go with that. The reason why I chose to include this non-metal song as a bonus treat is the way it sounds pretty metal even though such a genre had not been fully invented at the time. Combining elements from jazz, rock, and Middle Eastern music, MAHAVISHU ORCHESTRA reaches nothing short of feverish intensity with this riff origami; not only is the time signature progressive asf but also the synthetic/modal scales used in those riffs resonate with an aura of ferocious evil – of that particular sort which would later become the trademark of myriad heavy-metal bands. Oh, yes – you can listen to this great album back to back with the early prog giants, such as KING CRIMSON and YES.
Okay, one more for the road…
Bonus: Matteo Mancuso: Silkroad
Sicilian guitar sensation Matteo Mancuso released this banger two years ago. “Silkroad” opens his haunting jazz-rock fusion album “The Journey,” and while it is not exactly metal or even prog in the strictest sense of the term, the middle section in this song packs so much punch that I just had to include this beast on this list. The motif that kicks in first with the acoustic guitar and piano, somewhere around the 4-minute mark in this music video (3 minutes or so into the song, on the album), is a real mind-twister! I managed to figure out the rhythmic code to the motif once but I seem to have forgotten it already. So, I tried once again. It sounds as though the quavers (1/8 notes) are divided as follows: 5/8 + 4/8 + 4/8 + 6/8 + 5/8, although I’m not exactly sure whether the last two sub-divisions swap places here and there. I would have to REALLY concentrate, but it’s kinda hard when the motif sounds so delicious. So, what is the time signature? The easiest way to write it into notation could be, perhaps, to put it into a combination of 13/8 and 11/8, yes? I’m not sure (I’m not a professional musician) but that’s my 5 cents on this. Anyway, what Mancuso did here is beyond genius! This is a killer song!
So, that’s it – my list of the 10 (or so) most delicious metal (or so) songs that use weird time signatures. Obviously, I was forced to make hard decisions when compiling this list because there are way too many great songs that aren’t in 4/4 time. Plus, I probably forgot about a dozen more. There are bands and solo artists that have almost made their entire career about odd meters or wicked polyrhythms – ANIMALS AS LEADERS, KING CRIMSON, Tigran Hamasyan (okay, not metal in the strictest sense but djenty enough to count), THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, TESSERACT, PANZERBALLETT, BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME, and a gazillion others. Feel free to remind me of some killer tracks of this sort in the comment section. You can never have too many songs in oddball meters on your playlist, metal or not.
Written by Jani Lehtinen
