: What is a hypermeter? I understand both the terms polymeter and polyrhythm, but when songs from bands such as Meshuggah are discussed the term 'hypermeter' keeps popping up. Can someone please explain?

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Hypermeter is meter at a higher level, combining several measures into one unit. The figure below is taken from an academic analysis of Meshuggah's album "Catch 33" - link:

The cymbal plays a normal 4/4 beat (plus one 2/4 measure), but the snare drum and the bass drum superimpose an additional rhythm, which is indicated by the blue lines, and which can be analyzed as four 7/8 measures. This creates a hypermeter in which those four bars are combined into a larger unit.