Riff Analysis 018 - Entheos "Primal"

Tempo, tempo, everywhere and not a drop to drink.
Tab (though I made some corrections to it when playing, I might put mine up some day):
tabs.ultimate-guitar.com/tab/...
Example of pitch/rhythm comparisons and music theory Platonism:
mtosmt.org/issues/mto.16.22.2...

[@entheosOFFICIAL]

This is so cool. 🔥

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Made my day! You guys are awesome! Apologies for the sloppy playing lol

[@nanthilrodriguez]

Common Core + Math = Math Core? Entheos is one of the best acts to come onto the scene in the past decade. Its sad their line-up has been so tumultuous. I hope they continue to put out new music.

[@metalmusictheory5401]

It's looking hopeful! Also my man I have a feeling you're going to be happy to see what my next video is, just a tease... Thanks as always for your support!

[@nanthilrodriguez]

@@metalmusictheory5401 i like all your videos! I'll be here! You're the highlight of my week since I found your channel. You got me all hot and bothered working up my guitar chops back up to play some btbam

[@Staehren]

no bullshit, just analysis, great shit

[@Tyler-zs3ry]

In regards to the comparison to the I-V-I Schenkerian business: I don't think anything mystical is going on, just that this is another example of how humans tend to gravitate towards simple ratios in music. There's nothing special about 2 or 3, just that they're the two smallest integers you can use to make a non-trivial ratio. Both Primal and I-V-I are examples of this simple frequency ratio (one is just much faster), so they're just different manifestations of the same thing. In any case, great video! Keep it up man.

[@daveh9551]

I love this song and several other songs by this band. Ive grown up listening to various music my entire life. My mom is an accomplished pianist, so I have an ear for music. I really stumbled upon this band by accident because their music just moves me in a direction I havent felt in a long time. That and the fact they have a female vocalist who can growl like no other has me sold on this band. Usually its the drummer and guitarist who simultaneously carry the band, BUT with Entheos it is completely the guitarist who guides the tempo. Its very unique in that the guitar seems to be singing its own version of the song as well. Very unique

[@fromthesky1050]

My brain hurts

[@Wokenstein]

Getting analysis and introductions to unheard gems? This man needs a raise

[@vineetbhatia8270]

This is the best channel I have discovered. Keep it up!!

[@wyliehj]

Thanks for going over the math involved to calculate this exactly! Stoked to use this

[@PeterLazzarino]

Awesome video! really enjoyed this

[@YavorArseniev]

Fantastic work as always. Your channel truly is a treasure trove.

[@hxyfever]

Really insightful analysis, glad I could stumble on this looking for new Entheos uploads. Looking forward to watching your other videos!

[@austinrolla5614]

Love that Faceless shirt! Keep these videos coming. I picked up guitar again recently and your videos make so much sense and you go into such detail. Glad I subscribed!

[@Wingsoficarus90]

Awesome vids man. Entheos is awesome. Seen them live about 4 years ago.

[@randyhochuli4540]

great channel! Entheos is the best, your analysis is dead on!

[@raphaelpujalte3001]

bro thank you for this channel, this is the kind of shit that i wish guys like adam neely would do ( i understand metal might not be his main focus) and you do it really well! i hope you get more recognition in the future!

[@kanvolu]

For some reason that half note triplet = quarter note feels very natural after a triplet tremolo picking part As always great content man :D

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Definitely helps prepare it! I was thinking the same thing.

[@VafaMottahedin]

Really enjoying your channel. This sort of stuff is what makes me appreciate metal music so much more and I like how you cover more than just a few bands. It mostly goes over my head though I think I need a metal music theory for beginners type of thing 😂

[@metalmusictheory5401]

I'll do some of those videos down the road! I find it harder to make videos about the beginner stuff haha, they require a lot more planning!

[@jbasti227]

Can you please an analysis on the intro to The Art Of Dying by Gojira? That riff/drum pattern (ESPECIALLY the drum pattern) has always been tricky for me to get a grasp of

[@Artunen]

Here is a quick recap what is going on in the intro. Its a series of four hits followed by series of two hits: IIII IIII IIII II II II IIII IIII IIII II II and that sequence repeats. When the drum set starts to play, the double bass kicks follow that sequence, snare drum fills in every rest and ride bell hits quarter notes.

[@nikolaytrofimov4175]

Man, how bout imperial Triumphant - Atomic Age analysis? They have some crazy blastbeat in that song (starts on 4:58 in their music video for the song), it seems like they have some tempo change there that grows up slowly. Wouldn't mind to know what's going on in their latest album musical-theory-wise also Thanks for another great video! That "math-musical" problem was "something"

[@metalmusictheory5401]

haha thanks! Love that album, I'm working up the courage to dive into some of it haha.

[@undeadmach1ne]

thanks again sir

[@lamniformes]

Schenkerian tempo analysis! very neat!

[@TheAbominationprime]

Have you ever uploaded one of these videos and had the band reply 'Holy **** we didn't even know that!'? Another awesome vid by the way!

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Thanks! And not quite, a few have shared my stuff which I guess means they like it haha. I think often I'm approaching stuff from a completely different angle than bands do when writing this stuff, or trying to explain stuff that they might do intuitively and not think about explicitly when writing, so I hope there might be room for them to have fun watching!

[@coveryourears3851]

Really glad to see this one, just finished this one up on bass. It's difficult but really fun and forced me to learn double thumb. Also I'm sure you noticed this but that middle thrashy riff before the intro riff returns uses the A/B/C cell method you were talking about in the Between the Buried and Me analysis, very cool. I'll have to try this 4/3 tempo trick in my own writing, possibly some cool pairings possible with 4:3 polymeter

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Good catch! Yeah there are a few versions of those types of shapes in these riffs, including one (last one before the main riff comes back) where the variable part is actually in the middle instead of the end. I'll do a longer video just about that type of thing at some point!

[@michalmiszczobrocki9045]

Its 1 AM in Poland why u doing this to me?!! I need to go to bed :((

[@kykiecszkieletu70]

Siemanko :D

[@RahulSingh-ie8nz]

The math tutor we all needed

[@drewsmithbass]

This like music theory but for headbanging! I'd also be interested in this concept but for time signatures, and whether there's a similar relation to what you've noticed here with tempo. Kill Or Become by Cannibal Corpse would be a great example of that, lots of shifting between 3/4 and 4/4 and tempo, feel and tactus shifts

[@sammyb774]

fucking love this song

[@masterchain3335]

Looking forward to your video on The Eagles.

[@hongyuan9912]

Will you do some analysis of Deathspell Omega or Virgil Donati? Much appreciate it.

[@Chapter93]

You clearly have great taste so you might already be aware, but Navene, Frank, and Evan played in a band called Animosity back in the day. Check em out if you're unfamiliar!

[@metalmusictheory5401]

One of my early favorite metal bands!

[@Randinator]

Have you listened to LAMPR3A? Their EP "Neurocoalescence" is one of my favorite EPs of all time, now they're recording a full length and I personally have been waiting years for it.

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Didn't know them but really digging it!

[@ThatPunkYT]

I think you and I have the same Hughes and Ketner lol, gotta break that bad boy out again soon! Sick video again! Anything to do with rhythm and tempo I'm a big fan of!

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Thanks! Although it's a little misleading because I practice with the H&K but then record direct with Neural, I've had better luck with that for downtuned djenty stuff!

[@ThatPunkYT]

@@metalmusictheory5401 I'll have to keep that in mind man! Lowest tuning I go is C usually stay in D, so I might be alright with what I got lol

[@tucker4459]

I dig the stoichiometric(?) analysis. Since you’re going deep on tempo, it’d be awesome to see an analysis of Jute Gyte. Oviri has some crazy stuff that somehow still sounds cohesive (to my ears anyway).

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Love Jute Gyte! That will be a big project that hopefully I'll have time for at some point!

[@Blackerer]

Interesting. Tying tempo to pitch like that. It is almost like 90s video game music using sequencers (see Unreal Tournament, for example). Pitch was created by playing the same sample at different speeds, thus changing its frequency.

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Yeah! Haven't really thought of that angle in a while, but if you played the exact same thing but analog speed it up by 3/2, you'd get something that goes up a fifth AND has the quarter note triplet as the new quarter...

[@robbledot7290]

Gorguts Obscura

[@lukasohlemacher]

Hey Man, discovered ur channel a while back, amazing stuff. I would be really interested in what you have to say about Panzerballet! Ever heard of them ? keep up the great work!

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Love them! They do a lot of this tempo modulation stuff (among lots of other stuff). Hadn't thought of doing a video on them but that would be a great idea!

[@cancan460]

Banger of a video! Considering you love tempo fuckery, I think you'd dig None So Lucid by Noneuclid a lot (Might even be a good song for a video). Florian Magnus Maier is an insane composer in general, but I especially love his work on Noneuclid.

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Just checked it out and digging it!

[@govnaizmesare]

Aside from hearing interesting theoretical analysis, I also get to find out about bands that I've never heard before. Definitely gonna check out more from these guys. The double time/half time shifts are kinda hard to catch if you aren't explicitly paying attention though, very subtle. By the way, do you know of any instances of metal bands using modulation with tuplets(quintuplets,septuplets, etc...), would be interesting to hear the changes in groove.

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Thank you! And check out Car Bomb!

[@govnaizmesare]

@@metalmusictheory5401 I love Car Bomb, they're absolute rhythmic wizards! I felt that with their music they "dance" around a particular tempo, shifting the rhythmic feel while keeping a singular tempo throughout the whole song, however I wouldn't be surprised if they employed tempo shifts through modulation too.

[@metalmusictheory5401]

@@govnaizmesare They do both, and more! Check out my video about them if you haven't!

[@Weregus1]

You should look at perfecitizen, very cool band with great dynamic music. Especially their last album.

[@chinuppollywog]

I DARE YOU to do a video on Yowie. Actually I think you'd find it fun.

[@jonnyboii5773]

Brooo please analyze some Mastodon

[@vineetbhatia8270]

Just one request. Can you please make videos explaining basic terms like chords, scales, keys etc for complete beginners like me?

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Planning one for sure!

[@JoeZarx]

Great vid as always! Any chance you listen to Stephen Taranto? I have always wondered what is going on at 2:28 on the song Pixel Heart: Verdant - kzbin.info/www/bejne/ppa8l5d5edWWbcU

[@iceandblaze92]

Great video on one of my favorite bands but guess what.......navene posted this on Facebook a couple months back.....metricmodulationcalculator.com the internet is fucking amazing

[@kylerferrill8252]

Yoooo this is sick thank you

[@Yoopless]

Of the books present behind you, is there one you would recommend to people looking to start writing music?

[@metalmusictheory5401]

A few people have asked; the book I've learned the most about writing music from is probably the BTBAM Colors tab book lol, but really I didn't learn much about writing music from books, it was more from lessons and listening and experimenting. When I teach theory I have to use Laitz "The Complete Musician" which is a fine start for learning tonal harmony in the classical tradition, and I've also learned a lot about harmony and writing from playing jazz (Dan Haerle "The Jazz Language" is a decent brief intro to that). And Miles Okazaki "Fundamentals of Guitar" has a lot of open ended generative ideas specifically for guitar that can open doors for writing and playing. But the main thing is listening and getting practice writing!

[@Yoopless]

@@metalmusictheory5401 thanks for the reply. I really dig your channel, mate. Keep it coming!

[@randyhochuli4540]

Normalize Metal Music Theory

[@bazdesh]

yo man, since you are as much of a fan of tempo modulations as i am, you should check out Piniol and especially their song Sho Shin (kzbin.info/www/bejne/aXakq3iQnteWbc0) theres so many things going on since they are basically two full bands playing these monumental polyrhythmic things together

[@metalmusictheory5401]

Digging it!

[@ssruss226]

im too drunk and high for this