Prequel to the Sequel — 7/8 Odd-Time Architecture — Blake Richardson (Between the Buried and Me) Drum Lick | MetalForge
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Learn the Prequel to the Sequel — 7/8 Odd-Time Architecture drum lick by Blake Richardson of Between the Buried and Me. From Prequel to the Sequel (Colors (2007)). "Prequel to the Sequel" from Between the Buried and Me's landmark 2007 album Colors is one of the mo...
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1. Blake Richardson's Signature Licks — "Prequel to the Sequel" from Between the Buried and Me's landmark 2007 album Colors is one of the most celebrated drum performances in modern progressive metal and the track that most completely established Blake Richardson as a peer of the genre's greatest practitioners. The song is the centrepiece of Colors — an album widely considered the high-water mark of technical progressive metal — and Richardson's drumming throughout it is a tour de force of odd-time integration that manages to feel completely natural despite its exceptional rhythmic complexity. Operating primarily in 7/8 but shifting through multiple related time signatures across its extended runtime, Richardson never allows the metric irregularity to feel academic or difficult. Instead, the drumming flows with an ease that suggests these asymmetric phrases are the most natural things in the world, which is the hallmark of a player who has absorbed complex material deeply enough that it becomes instinctive. What makes this performance so instructive for drummers is the clarity of Richardson's intent at every moment. In odd time, many players focus so heavily on counting that the music loses its rhythmic momentum; Richardson inverts this — the groove drives forward with authority and the count is simply the internal logic that organises it. His snare placement within the 7/8 framework is particularly brilliant: rather than placing the backbeat where a 4/4 player would expect it, he uses the snare to mark the natural phrase groupings within the asymmetric bars, giving the listener a reliable rhythmic anchor even as the metre shifts around it. The cymbal choices across the track are equally refined — closed hi-hat tightness for the driven sections, open ride washes for the more expansive passages, crash accents used sparingly and with maximum impact. Richardson has noted in interviews that his approach to odd time comes from listening rather than counting — he hears the phrase shapes first and then learns the numbers attached to them, which produces a musical result that pure metric analysis cannot. The Colors album is the most important progressive metal record of its decade and "Prequel to the Sequel" is its rhythmic heart. Learning this performance develops a permanent facility in odd time that carries over into any situation where asymmetric phrasing appears, because Richardson's approach teaches the feel of 7/8 rather than just the calculation.2. Blake Richardson Profile — Hear the phrase shape of 7/8 as a felt groove rather than a calculation — the physical sensation of the phrase completing should precede the count Use snare placement to mark natural phrase groupings within asymmetric bars, giving the listener an anchor through the metric shifts Choose cymbal voicings purposefully — closed hi-hat for driven sections, open ride for expansive passages, crash accents used sparingly Drive the groove forward with authority so the metric complexity feels like a feature of the momentum rather than an obstacle to it Practice listening to the original recording in 7/8 loops until the phrase shape feels familiar before attempting to play along
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