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Metallica Assignment Musicology Duration Metre and Rhythm Most songs are in the usual rock metre of common or cut time although some songs are in ¾ or 6/8. At the end of some 4/4 phrases a ¾ or 2/4 bar is used to push the beat. The rhythm, in the first few albums, was typically very fast with its roots being spawned from British Punk Rock. As Metallica produced more albums the speed was drastically reduced and the punk beat …

…wove themselves around the tunes adding orchestral colour and texture to songs that were already complete! Sometimes we supported the chords or the riffs, sometimes we commented on the lyric or on a solo line.” The orchestra changed the texture of the songs from homophonic to polyphonic, by creating counter melodies, often giving songs a very different feeling, such as in “ Hero of the Day”, where the counter melodies make it sound far more emotional.