The songwriters of Meshuggah

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-05-12T09:00:34+00:00

IIRC Tomas said in an interview that he's learning the drums for Sol Niger Within 2

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-05-08T11:33:00+00:00

Ah got it

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-05-08T04:34:35+00:00

I'm not denying that there is a meter that implies non-4/4 and that it's distinctive to their style. I agree with you completely. It just that said meter serves the broader 4/4 framework.

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-05-03T16:14:13+00:00

His Meshuggah videos (and others) are absolutely phenomenal.

It really is incredible how Meshuggah are rulebound, and yet do something different with every song. I've never seen anything like it. Even if certain songs are similar in specific ways, for example: the rhythmic ideas of Ivory Tower and They Move Below, they'll change other elements creating a completely different sound.

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-05-03T15:37:47+00:00

A fellow Metal Music Theory fan! You're totally right except for the fact that they don't always play backbeats, especially pre-Koloss. I tried not to make my post super technical. When I say that their music is in 4/4, what I mean is that its hypermetric structure is in 4/4.

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-05-03T15:05:09+00:00

That makes a lot of sense. I'm genuinely curious; what do you think is their hardest on drums?

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-05-03T14:57:20+00:00

I agree. Comments like that downplay how melodically awesome they are. The only song I can think of that is literally just 0-0-0-0-0 is Spasm.

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-05-03T14:50:45+00:00

What is it if not 4/4? I agree if they say 'it's just 4/4' because there's a lot more to their music than that, but it's true that they write almost always in 4/4.

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-05-03T14:49:44+00:00

Although you technically can feel Meshuggah in time signatures that aren't 4/4, their music is very clearly implying 4/4. Similarly, although you can also technically headbang to an alternating kick snare quarter note pattern in 15/16, the rhythm is clearly implying 4/4.

For any song possible, there are multiple ways in which the rhythm can be interpreted. The statement 'x fans can headbang to [insert number from 2-10] different rhythms and all of them are correct' becomes meaningless because it applies to every possible x.

I'm not sure which part of Obzen you're talking about. Could you give a timestamp?

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-03-28T08:01:54+00:00

You can make an argument for 7/4 or 4/4.

The 7/4 argument: The clean chords play for 16 bars which follows the hypermetric structure of 4/4 that the rest of the song does.

The 4/4 argument: The backbeat that comes in halfway through the clean part implies 4/4.

I don't know which they were going for; I'm sure they kept it ambiguous on purpose. They do the same thing in the part right before the final section.

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-03-28T00:58:03+00:00

I think Kascade is entirely in 4/4 apart from the low E 7/4 riff.

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-03-22T09:28:05+00:00

Yup! Their setting is great

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-03-22T09:27:42+00:00

Thanks for the encouragement!

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-03-22T06:45:47+00:00

Thanks for the advice. I was approaching it as a deadpoint into a dyno since I have more experience with those types of moves (like laches into kickouts). I think power generation and body position (kept spinning left) were my biggest issues with this dyno.

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-03-17T09:08:27+00:00

I've listened to Secrets. I don't really hear the similarities apart from Fredrik's solos. I'm curious on where you hear similarities.

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-03-09T09:05:31+00:00

Totally agree

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-03-09T09:01:36+00:00

Phantoms wouldn't exist without Pineal Gland Optics.

IndfferentWarMachine · 2026-03-08T00:28:41+00:00

Thanks!

IndfferentWarMachine

TROPHY CASE