Line #7 Main/Djent


1	[floatboxright:
2	Primary Stylistic Influences:
3	+ GrooveMetal, ProgressiveMetal, AvantGardeMetal
4	]
5	[floatboxright:
6	Secondary Stylistic Influences:
7	+ NuMetal, {{Metalcore}}, MelodicDeathMetal, IndustrialMetal, TechnicalDeathMetal, {{Deathcore}}, {{Grindcore}}, PostHardcore, ElectronicMusic
8	]
9
10	'''Djent''' is a subgenre of heavy metal characterized by downtuned riffs, heavy grooves, polyrhythmic drumming, and irregular time signatures which became popular in the early 2010s. Later bands also added in other elements that became commonly associated with the genre, namely clean, ethereal atmospheric textures, [[ElectronicMusic electronic]] overtones, and occasionally clean singing depending on the act. Dissonance is sometimes associated with the genre in the late 2010s and early 2020s, usually in more extreme acts that may or may not use the "thall" tag[[note]]an onomatopoeia created by Vildhjarta to describe the sound of an open note on an extended-range guitar[[/note]]; this was largely codified by Car Bomb and Vildhjarta in the earlier part of the decade and additionally popularized by Humanity's Last Breath in the final quarter of the decade, and most extreme djent acts with prominent dissonant death metal or post-metal elements fit within this stylistic framework. Essentially, a cross between ProgressiveMetal and GrooveMetal.
11
12	Because djent refers to a style of guitar playing, the genre of metal largely depends on the band in question. A lot of bands sound very different from each outside of the djent guitar. For example, compare Animals as Leaders to Twelve Foot Ninja, or Periphery to Hacktivist. Though, ProgressiveMetal and {{Metalcore}} are the most common overlaps, AlternativeMetal, NuMetal, and MelodicDeathMetal combinations are also popular.
13
14	----
15	!! Bands typically considered to be Djent include:
16
17	[[index]]
18	* Music/{{AERIAL\|Band}}
19	* Music/AfterTheBurial (also deathcore)
20	* Music/TheAfterimage
21	* Music/TheAlgorithm
22	* Music/AnimalsAsLeaders
23	* Music/{{Architects}}
24	* Music/{{Aviana}}
25	* Music/BetrayingTheMartyrs (also {{deathcore}})
26	* Music/{{Blankfield}} (known for doing the music for the ''VideoGame/DanmakuUnlimited'' games)
27	* Music/BornOfOsiris (Also {{Deathcore}} and [[TechnicalDeathMetal Progressive Death Metal]], though they have mostly leaned towards metalcore from ''Tomorrow We Die ∆live'' onward)
28	* Music/CarBomb (''w^w^^w^w/Waveform'' onward, also mathcore)
29	* Music/ChelseaGrin (''Ashes to Ashes'' and ''Self Inflicted'', also metalcore and deathcore, though they have regularly flirted with this over the years)
30	* Music/TheContortionist (earlier material, abandoned the genre completely in favor of [[ProgressiveMetal prog-tinged]] Main/PostHardcore on ''Clairvoyant'')
31	* Music/TheCyclamen (strong prog-metal influence, their mellower songs verge on [[Main/PostHardcore post-hardcore]])
32	* Music/{{Deadlock}} (On ''The Arsonist'', previous material was MelodicDeathMetal.)
33	* Music/{{Deftones}} (from ''Diamond Eyes'' onwards, also AvantGardeMetal)
34	* Music/DestinyPotato (a rare female-fronted example)
35	* Music/{{DVSR}} (also RapMetal)
36	* Music/{{Earthists}} (also metalcore, notable ambient influence)
37	* Music/{{Entheos}} (''Primal'', mixed with TechnicalDeathMetal; they mostly shed this on ''The Infinite Nothing'')
38	* Music/{{Erra}} (Also has some strong {{Metalcore}} influences)
39	* Music/{{Exotype}} (a strange example of this overlapping with a slew of both metal and ElectronicMusic genres)
40	* Music/AFineConstant
41	* Music/{{Frontierer}} (also mathcore)
42	* Music/{{Grenouer}} (''Try'' and ''Lifelong Days'' before shifting to NuMetal afterwards; prior material is DeathMetal)
43	* Music/{{Hacktivist}} (mixed with [[HipHop grime]] and NuMetal)
44	* Music/HauntedShores (mixed with AlternativeMetal. Also see Periphery)
45	* Music/HumanitysLastBreath (mixed with deathcore and tech death. Also see Vildhjarta)
46	* Music/IBuiltTheSky
47	* Music/InHeartsWake
48	* Music/{{Intervals}}
49	* Music/InventAnimate
50	* Music/IonDissonance (''Minus the Herd'' onward, also deathcore and mathcore)
51	* Music/{{Issues}} (prominently on their second album, also {{Metalcore}}, NuMetal, and {{Pop}} music)
52	* Music/{{Jinjer}} (some nu metal elements)
53	* Music/{{Krosis}} (also deathcore)
54	* Music/SarahLongfield (also see A Fine Constant; her solo work toes the line between djent and modern instrumental prog ala Scale the Summit, but she is ultimately rooted in djent)
55	* Music/{{Meshuggah}} (UrExample, TropeMaker, TropeNamer and TropeCodifier)
56	* Music/{{Monuments}}
57	* Music/{{Mnemic}} (Overlaps with NuMetal and Industrial)
58	* Music/MythOfI (also instrumental prog)
59	* Music/{{Nevermore}} (the other TropeMaker; one of few djent bands that overlap with PowerMetal)
60	* Music/{{Northlane}} (early material was straightforward djent/metalcore, ''Alien'' mixes in nu-metal and rave music)
61	* Music/NovelistsFR (also prog and metalcore, their lightest material goes into [[Main/PostHardcore post-hardcore]])
62	* Music/OvidsWithering (overlaps with deathcore and SymphonicMetal)
63	* Music/{{Periphery}} (The GenrePopularizer)
64	* Music/{{Polyphia}} (Though they took a ''hard'' left into ProgressiveMetal by their 2nd album.)
65	* Music/{{Ravenscry}} (overlaps with GothicMetal and AlternativeMetal; another female-fronted example)
66	* Music/ReapingAsmodeia (also deathcore)
67	* Music/JasonRichardson
68	* Music/ScarSymmetry (another early example rooted in PowerMetal)
69	* Music/{{SHEORU}}
70	* Music/{{SikTh}} (early co-TropeCodifier, also NuMetal. The EnsembleDarkhorse of the subgenre)
71	* Music/{{Skyharbor}}
72	* Music/SleepToken (mixed with alternative pop and R&B)
73	* Music/{{Spiritbox}}
74	* Music/DanSugarman
75	* Music/{{Sybreed}} (overlaps with Industrial and MelodicDeathMetal)
76	* Music/{{Tesseract}} (an incredibly rare example that only uses clean vocals; also a respected example)
77	* Music/{{Textures}} (another EnsembleDarkhorse due to their unique and atmospheric sound)
78	* Music/ThreatSignal (Also MelodicDeathMetal)
79	* Music/TheTonyDanzaTapdanceExtravaganza (also deathcore and mathcore)
80	* Music/TwelveFootNinja (mixed with FunkMetal)
81	* Music/UnevenStructure (mixed with [[PostRock Post-Metal]])
82	* Music/VeilOfMaya (mixed {{Deathcore}} early on-their fifth album switched to a straightfoward Djent sound)
83	* Music/{{Vildhjarta}} (also avant-garde metal, see Humanity's Last Breath)
84	* Music/{{Viscera}} (also deathcore and metalcore)
85	* Music/{{Volumes}} (also {{Deathcore}} and NuMetal)
86	* Music/{{Voyager}} (overlaps with progressive metal on their earlier material, but ''Colours in the Sun'' mostly abandoned this for a djent/synthwave hybrid sound)
87	* Music/{{Within the Ruins}} (also Deathcore and Metalcore)
88	* Music/{{Xerath}} (mixed with SymphonicMetal)
89	[[/index]]
90
91	!! Djent contains the following tropes:
92	* CarefulWithThatAxe: Harsh vocals in djent often come in suddenly and with little to no forewarning, leading to surprising reactions from listeners who would otherwise expect a purely instrumental track.
93	* DeadUnicornTrope: Djent bands are stereotyped as always using 8 and 9-string guitars, largely due to the influence of Meshuggah. In reality, most bands in the genre, even the earliest examples, use seven-string or conventional (albeit downtuned) six-string guitars.
94	** Moreover, while there are many which refer to djent as a musical genre, djent is more accurately described as a specific style of guitar ''playing''; the djent "sound" can vary greatly across different bands and can resemble anything from {{Metalcore}} and ProgressiveMetal, to more extreme and technical forms of DeathMetal, DoomMetal and AvantGardeMetal, and can even sound like conventional GrooveMetal, AlternativeMetal, IndustrialMetal, or NuMetal with syncopation and polyrhythms added in.
95	* DiscreditedMeme: Most bands in the genre are utterly sick of the "but will it djent?" meme.
96	* EpicRocking: Many bands in the genre would write songs that can range anywhere from six to eight minutes long, with some truly long-playing tracks recorded by older bands or those with a more overtly ambient influence. Occasionally, there will be [=EPs=] or even full-length albums that are meant to be listened to as one complete song.
97	* FollowTheLeader: One of the biggest criticisms of the genre, and even its musicians will (half-jokingly) [[LampshadeHanging admit to it]]. The stereotype of the Periphery or Animals as Leaders soundalike with a plural noun name, preppy-looking members in dress shirts, a vocalist (if the band isn't an instrumental ensemble) who is either a clean-singing [[Music/LinkinPark Chester Bennington]] / [[Music/{{Deftones}} Chino Moreno]] stand-in, or a bald, hammy, funny-faced dude whose HarshVocals sound like someone going through a SanitySlippage, guitarists who use Ibanez, Kiesel or Strandberg guitars, run everything through Axe-Fx, and play a mix of chugging riffs, groovy bends, effects-laden atmospheric textures, out-of-tune legato passages, and heavily processed fusionesque leadwork, and Website/YouTube channels that are mostly covers and Jared Dines-aping comedy sketches exists for a reason, and all but the most self-unaware djent musicians will probably laugh with you and/or offer several additional components if you bring it up.
98	* FriendlyFandoms: With [[PowerMetal shred]]. Despite the two genres' radically different approaches to musical composition, fans of djent and shred are generally on friendly terms due to a shared love of guitar playing and an emphasis on music theory, technical performance, and eclectic musicianship. Several artists such as Music/JeffLoomis, [[Music/ScarSymmetry Per Nilsson]], Devin Townsend, and Jason Richardson have produced material in both djent and shred, so there's some overlap between the two styles as well.
99	* GreenAesop: Bands with more of an ambient influence have this as a lyrical topic, Earthists, Invent Animate, and Aviana being the most notable. Yuto of Earthists jokingly refers to their style of music as ''[[NatureMetal naturecore]]''.
100	* IAmTheBand: In Djent, a lot of "bands" in the genre are really just one guy who can play guitar and bass using programmed drums. The genre has become rather notorious for that. Many of these one-man projects evolve into full lineups, however.
101	* {{Improv}}: Due to the insular nature of early djent, and the relatively simple production techniques required to make tracks, the genre as a whole is known for this. It is also notable for being a genre that can be procedurally generated with relative ease.
102	* {{Hatedom}}: Djent isn't look very highly upon among many metal purists, as to them, djent is just a playing style and classifying it as a separate genre doesn't make sense to them, so you won't find much bands under the "djent" category in The Metal Archives outside of few main acts, such as Meshuggah.
103	* MindScrew: Djent is this in riff form.
104	* MinisculeRocking: The heavier and more extreme bands of the genre would sometimes record minute-long tracks that make up for their brevity with great intensity and technical prowess.
105	* SopranoAndGravel: Many bands in the genre alternate between clean and harsh vocals, much like the {{Metalcore}}, AlternativeMetal, and MelodicDeathMetal bands they are influenced by. A few bands, notably Vildhjarta and Scar Symmetry, have dabbled with the idea of having [[VocalTagTeam two vocalists]] perform separate vocal roles.
106	* SpecialGuest: It isn't uncommon for djent musicians to borrow talent from other bands, or lend theirs to musical projects that aren't their own. Many djent bands even have surprisingly good relations with ''former members'', and may even occasionally feature them in their more recent material.
107	* TechnoBabble: A common trope in djent lyrics, song titles, and album naming. Often overlaps with GreenAesop themes and is most noticeable in bands with an IndustrialMetal influence.
108	* ThreeChordsAndTheTruth: Zigzagged - the main focus of the genre is on start-stop riffs that are mostly devoid of melody, with some bands even writing entire songs with only one to three ''notes''. But what djent riffs lack in melody, they make up for in precisely-timed picking and [[UncommonTime sheer complexity of rhythm]]. Many bands also add lush ambient soundscapes and even include guitar solos to break up the monotony of the polyrhythmic chugging.
109	* TropeCodifier - {{Music/Periphery}}
110	* TropeMaker and UrExample - {{Music/Meshuggah}}. Other musical acts that have left their influence on the genre include {{Music/Nevermore}}, Music/ScarSymmetry, [[Music/DevinTownsend Strapping Young Lad]], Music/{{Deftones}} and {{Music/Mnemic}}.

Context Main / Djent