Djent
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Djent
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| Development phase: | Early 2000s |
| Place of origin: | UK , USA , Sweden |
| Stylistic precursors | |
| Groove Metal , Progressive Metal , Metalcore , Technical Death Metal , Progressive Rock | |
| Pioneers | |
| Chimp Spanner - Fellsilent - Meshuggah - TesseracT - Periphery | |
| Instruments typical of the genre | |
| Electric guitar - electric bass - drums - synthesizer | |
The term Djent describes a specific, hard-struck, muffled chord on the guitar. It is a sound imitation and was first used by the guitarist Fredrik Thordendal of the Meshuggah band . Around the term a movement was founded within the metal scene, which is based on the roots of progressive metal .
The movement emerged from the solo projects of several musicians who recorded music on their own computers with various programs, and gained popularity for the first time through various forums in the early 2000s. Nowadays it is a firmly established scene in metal, which mainly spreads through the Internet, but is also characterized by its own music festivals and regular tours .
pronunciation
Since the pronunciation of the word is not precisely defined, two different pronunciation options have become established within the scene over the years. In the most common form the first two letters to be a dj to which the extension "-ent" follows (in phonetic notation : [dʒɛnt]). Another possibility is to add an additional "d" to the term, which is spoken separately from the rest of the word; consequently: d-djent (in phonetic transcription: [di-dʒɛnt]). In addition to the most common forms, there are also other pronunciation options.
Stylistic features
The typical sound of a single note from Djent is essentially characterized by the combination of a power chord with an additional fifth , which normally extends over four strings of the guitar. Through the palm muting generated with the ball of the hand and the increased attack of the strings, the double octave power chord gets the typical Djent sound. The foundation for the typical sound of Djent is often the EP None released in 1994 and the studio album Destroy Erase Improve , which was released one year later , especially the songs Aztec Two-Step and Soul Burn , by the band Meshuggah. According to Misha Mansoor, every single note of these songs sounds like the word Djent when you listen carefully.
In the present, Djent is characterized not only by his typical sound but also by the complexity of guitar riffs and the frequent use of polyrhythms . In addition, the guitar riffs are often characterized by syncopation . Another feature is the frequent use of seven and eight-string , rarely six-string electric guitars , which are usually also tuned lower.
history
Emergence
Through the official forums of the band Meshuggah, the American musician Misha Mansoor and the British musician Acle Kahney first came into contact with the term "Djent", in which its typical sound was discussed, Meshuggah's guitarist Fredrik Thordendal wanted to denote with the term, as well as how it is created. Inspired by this and publications by the band SikTh , they began to record their own music on the computer. As a result, Acle Kahney founded his project TesseracT , while Misha Mansoor regularly uploaded new compositions under the pseudonym Bulb, the name of his former band, to the online platform SoundClick , which he named Djent and offered for free download. The musician Paul Antonio Ortiz, also from Great Britain, started his solo project Chimp Spanner at the same time and began to compose his own music with the help of computer programs from home and then publish it on various online portals.
The musicians first came into contact with one another through various forums such as that of the band Meshuggah or the guitarist John Petrucci and that of the software manufacturer Toontrack or the forum of Harmony Central , which specializes in musical instruments . They began to exchange music with each other and to discuss the latest products, which should make their music sound even more like the typical Djent sound. They also helped each other to compose new pieces and together they developed new playing techniques and further refined the handling of the computer programs used. In 2004 Acle Kahney announced that he had found a singer in the French Julien Perier, after he had previously emailed him a revised version of the song Sunrise with his vocals . A year later Misha Mansoor founded his band Periphery , while Acle Kahney's project TesseracT also increasingly developed into a band.
Further development
The scene quickly gained popularity on the Internet and other solo projects were founded based on the models of Misha Mansoor, Acle Kahney and Paul Antonio Ortiz. The musician Al Mu'min founded his own solo project under the name The HAARP Machine in 2007 , which mixes Djent with Far Eastern sounds. Also in 2007 the guitarist Tosin Abasi founded his own solo project under the name Animals as Leaders , after his former band Reflux , which combines forms of jazz with progressive metal, broke up. With the help of Misha Mansoor, who actively worked on the creation of the album and produced it, the self-titled debut album Animals as Leaders was released in 2009 . A year earlier, the first edition of the Euroblast Festival took place, which takes place annually in Cologne and is the largest of its kind in the world. In 2009 the British musician John Browne, who had previously played with Acle Kahney in the band Fellsilent , and the guitarist Josh Travis from the USA founded the multinational project Elements , which they broke off at the beginning of 2010 and John Browne changed the line from now on -up ran under the name Monuments . The electro scene also became aware of the movement. An example of this is the project by the French musician Rémi Gallego, who, under the name The Algorithm, combines electronic sounds with features of the djent.
At the end of 2009 the online platform got-djent.com went online , which has established itself as one of the most important exchange opportunities within the scene. It was founded by the Belgian Sander Dieleman after he and some other users within a group of the website Last.fm decided to create a web portal which should make it easier for fans of the scene to communicate with each other. Since then it has also been possible for lesser-known bands to present themselves to the scene, whereupon a flood of new bands broke out. Shortly before, Misha Mansoor and his band Periphery had signed a record deal with Sumerian Records , which was followed by the self-titled debut album a year later. Acle Kahney's band TesseracT also found accommodation with the German record label Century Media and Paul Ortiz also received a recording contract with his instrumental solo project Chimp Spanner with the British independent label Basick Records , which at that time was increasingly focusing on music from the Djent movement concentrated. Other well-known bands that incorporate elements of djent into their songs are After the Burial , Born of Osiris and Veil of Maya .
controversy
Djent as a genre
Due to the upswing of the scene, the actual meaning of Djent fades into the background. Instead, many see the movement as a separate music genre, which leads to controversial discussions within the scene. When it comes to the question of whether Djent is a genre, opinions differ widely. An opinion poll, which was carried out on got-djent.com with users of the platform as well as leading personalities and connoisseurs of the scene, confirmed the different views of Djent.
Sander Dieleman, founder of the platform, sees in this heated discussion a split between supporters and opponents of this view, with the latter wanting to preserve the actual meaning of Djent. The British daily The Guardian printed an article on the movement in an issue in March 2011, in which it described Djent as the “microgenre” of metal. Misha Mansoor also stated in the article that, in his opinion, the former name for a certain chord had developed into its own genre. Animals as Leaders founder and guitarist Tosin Abasi looks at the discussion from a more subjective point of view. In his opinion, a genre arises when the music of several artists is characterized by common characteristics, which is the case in the case of movement, so that he does not consider it wrong to call Djent a sub-genre of progressive metal. Lisa Coverdale, who works at Basick Records, does not see the Djent movement, which, according to estimates, is still very masculine, as not a genre of its own, as, in her opinion, a genre must be open to everyone. As a result of the discussion, the Indian musician Keshav Dhar stated at the beginning of 2011 that he had renamed the name of his band Hydrodjent to Skyharbor , as Djent was increasingly viewed as a genre of its own and the name of his music project at the time was therefore no longer appropriate.
Criticism of increasing popularity
The musicians and fans of the scene are also critical of the scene's increasing popularity. Maz Star, an employee of the British radio station TotalRock , regrets that both new bands and fans have turned what was once a very small scene, separated from the rest of metal, into an internet phenomenon that is only a matter of time when the interest in it disappears. Olly Steele, guitarist for the band Monuments, is also dismayed that many bands are taking advantage of the boom in the scene and calling themselves part of it in order to make their own profit. Paul Antonio Ortiz, on the other hand, sees the upswing within the scene as a great opportunity for many unknown bands who want to make their musical contribution to this movement.
Equipment
With the beginnings of the Djent movement, the possibilities of home recording developed , which made the scene possible in the first place. Misha Mansoor as well as Acle Kahney and Paul Antoni Ortiz used the program Drumkit from Hell by the software manufacturer Toontrack for their first recordings for the drums , which was co-developed by the drummer Tomas Haake of the band Meshuggah and with which the complete drum tracks from their album Catch Thirtythree was added. It also was used on the album Ziltoid the Omniscient of Devin Townsend . Misha Mansoor also tried the Battery 3 program developed by the software manufacturer Native Instruments . Subsequently, all three musicians began to use the software Superior Drummer 1 developed by Toontrack and its successor version.
For the recordings of the guitar parts they used the recently released POD series from Line 6 , which enabled them to create music without a guitar amplifier . With one of these, Acle Kahney recorded the clear guitar sections for TesseracT, for example. Nowadays, both Acle Kahney and Misha Mansoor use a version of the Ax FX Ultra from Fractal for their recordings. For his guitars Misha Mansoor uses pickups from the company Bare Knuckle or Dimarzio, while Acle Kahney uses pick-ups from the Swedish company Lundgren, which is also used by the band Meshuggah.
Further use
It is not uncommon for the term Djent to appear in connection with other words within the scene as a play on words . Parts of the scene often refer to themselves as djentlemen , which is a combination of the words "djent" and "gentlemen". The adjective "djenty", which is often used to describe the sound of the music as particularly close to the djent, also developed from the word .
Thall
The term "Thall" occurs frequently within the Djent scene in connection with the band Vildhjarta and is now synonymous with the name of the band. The term was circulated by the band through social networks and videos, and has since been spread widely by fans of the band over the internet. It often appears as a comment under the band's posts or is used as a substitute for other words. However, the exact meaning of the word has not yet been clarified. Only the band members know the true meaning of the word, but do not want to disclose it, as otherwise the term would probably lose its meaning according to their own statement.
criticism
The guitarist Fredrik Thordendal of the band Meshuggah, who once got the movement rolling, is positively amazed and proud at the same time, what has developed from his term. In an interview, he said that he was delighted that he and his band could inspire other musicians to make music based on the model of himself and his band. However, not all bands are enthusiastic about the new scene: When asked what they think of Djent, the post-metal band Rosetta answered whether one should not simply call Doom Metal "Dunnn" in the future . The singer Randy Blythe of the band Lamb of God also sees Djent as just another, in his opinion unnecessary genre. It's just a concept. The guitarist of the band Sybreed Thomas Betrisey explained that for him the music doesn't sound like a “djent”, but rather like a “quack-quackquack”. Furthermore, the scene often has to struggle with the accusation that it is the "heir to Nu Metal ", which is also in a difficult position in the metal scene .
List of well-known Djent bands
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Interview with Misha Mansoor from Periphery and Mark Ukubo from Veil of Maya on guitarmessenger.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ a b Interview with Fredrik Thordendal and Marten Hagstrom from Meshuggah ( Memento of the original from May 17, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on guitarworld.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ a b c d e Article about Djent ( Memento of the original from April 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on holdtightpr.com; accessed on March 28, 2013.
- ↑ a b c d e Interview with Acle Kahney from TesseracT on metalsucks.net; accessed on March 15, 2013.
- ↑ a b Article on Djent from The Guardian newspaper at guardian.co.uk; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ a b FAQ ( Memento of the original from June 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. from got-djent.com; accessed on March 15, 2013.
- ↑ a b Interview with John Browne from Monuments on mixcloud.com; accessed on March 27, 2013.
- ↑ a b c d Survey on the definition of Djent on got-djent.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ a b c d e f g Interview with Misha Mansoor, Acle Kahney and John Browne on musicradar.com; accessed on March 15, 2013.
- ↑ Jamie Thomson: Djent, the metal geek's microgenre . theguardian.com; accessed on 07/18/16
- ↑ Article about the use of six-, seven- and eight-string electric guitars for Djent ( Memento of the original from December 13, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on djentmetal.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Interview with Misha Mansoor from Periphery ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on sevenstring.org; accessed on March 28, 2013.
- ↑ Interview with Paul Ortiz from Chimp Spanner on rocksins.com; accessed on March 28, 2013.
- ↑ Interview with the organizer of the Euroblast Festival on powermetal.de; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Interview with Rémi Gallego from The Algorithm ( Memento of the original from April 11, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on got-djent.com; accessed on March 28, 2013.
- ↑ Periphery sign record deal with Sumerian Records on blabbermouth.net; accessed on March 28, 2013.
- ↑ TesseracT sign record deal with Century Media on blabbermouth.net; accessed on March 28, 2013.
- ↑ Chimp Spanner signs record deal with Basick Records on metalunderground.com; accessed on March 28, 2013.
- ↑ Album review for [id] by Veil of Maya on allmusic.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ^ Album review for The Discovery by Born of Osiris on popmatters.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Interview with Justin Lowe from After the Burial ( Memento of the original from June 27, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on underthegunreview.net; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Tosin Abasi's opinion on Djent on youtube.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Survey of experts in the scene after the definition of Djent on got-djent.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Interview with Keshav Dhar from Skyharbor ( Memento of the original from September 26, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on indianmusicrevolution.com; accessed on March 16, 2013.
- ↑ Information on the album Ziltoid the Omniscient by Devin Townsend on blabbermouth.net; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Explanation of the term djentlemen on urbandictionary.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Biography of Vildhjarta on centurymedia.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Interview with Daniel Bergström from Vildhjarta on nocleansinging.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Interview with Calle Thomer von Vildhjarta ( Memento of the original from October 29, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on blistering.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Interview with Fredrik Thordendal from Meshuggah ( Memento of the original from March 21, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on guitarworld.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Answer of the band Rosetta to the question “what do they think of Djent” ( memento of the original from January 28, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on rosettaband.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Randy Blythe from Lamb of God about Djent ( Memento of the original from September 8, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on smnnews.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ↑ Interview with Thomas Betrisey from Sybreed ( Memento of the original from May 28, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on got-djent.com; Retrieved March 29, 2013.
