djent

Fredrik Thordendal, lead guitarist of Swedish band Meshuggah, coined the term.[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2011/mar/03/djent-metal-geeks "Djent, the metal geek's microgenre"]. The Guardian. 3 March 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2011 In a 2018 interview by Rauta, Meshuggah guitarist Mårten Hagström apologized for the band's role in creating the "djent" style of guitar playing, calling it "a drunk misunderstanding".{{cite web |title=MESHUGGAH's MÅRTEN HAGSTRÖM On 'Djent': 'We're Very Sorry For Creating That Genre; We Didn't Intend To – Our Bad' |url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/meshuggahs-marten-hagstrom-on-djent-were-very-sorry-for-creating-that-genre-we-didnt-intend-to-our-bad/ |website=Blabbermouth |date=23 July 2018 |access-date=23 July 2018}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.revolvermag.com/music/meshuggah-apologize-djent-it-was-drunk-misunderstanding|title=Meshuggah Apologize for Djent: It Was "Drunk Misunderstanding"|last=Camp|first=Zoe|date=24 July 2018|website=Revolver|language=en|access-date=21 April 2020}}

Other bands important in the development of the style are Animals as Leaders,{{cite web|last=Angle|first=Brad|title=Interview: Meshuggah Guitarist Fredrik Thordendal Answers Reader Questions|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/artists/interview-meshuggah-guitarist-fredrik-thordendal-answers-reader-questions|work=Guitar World|publisher=Future US|access-date=10 June 2020|date=23 July 2011}} Periphery, Tesseract,{{cite web|title=TesseracT Unveil New Video|url=http://www.guitarworld.com/tesseract-unveil-new-video|work=Guitar World|publisher=Future US|access-date=17 October 2011|author=GuitarWorld Staff Member|date=16 March 2011}}{{cite web|last=Rivadavia|first=Eduardo|title=One|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/one-r2139772/review|work=AllMusic|publisher=Rovi Corporation|access-date=17 October 2011}}{{cite web|last=Rivadavia|first=Eduardo|title=Concealing Fate|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/concealing-fate-r2166510|work=AllMusic|publisher=Rovi Corporation|access-date=17 October 2011}} and Textures.{{cite web|last=Bland|first=Ben|title=Textures - Dualism (Album Review)|url=http://www.stereoboard.com/content/view/168090/9|publisher=Stereoboard.com|access-date=17 October 2011|date=3 October 2011}}, with Periphery and Animals as Leaders both emerging at the beginning of the coining of the phrase “Djent” and both hailing from the Washington DC Suburban area.

The scene has grown rapidly,{{cite web|last=Colgan|first=Chris|title=Born of Osiris: The Discovery|url=http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/139376-born-of-osiris-the-discovery/|publisher=PopMatters|access-date=19 October 2011|date=24 June 2011}} and members of the original online community, including the bands Chimp Spanner, Sithu Aye, and Monuments, have gone on to tour and release albums commercially.{{cite web|title=TESSERACT's ACLE ON THE BIRTH OF TESSERACT AND THE DJENT MOVEMENT|url=http://www.metalsucks.net/2010/10/06/tesseracts-acle-on-the-birth-of-tesseract-and-the-djent-movement/|work=Metalsucks|date=6 October 2010|access-date=9 November 2014}} Other bands influenced by djent include A Life Once Lost,{{cite web|last=Debenedictis|first=Matt|title=A Life Once Lost Took 'an Outsider's Point of View' During Time Off|url=http://www.noisecreep.com/2011/02/23/a-life-once-lost-took-an-outsiders-point-of-view/|work=Noisecreep|publisher=AOL|access-date=17 October 2011|date=23 February 2011}} Veil of Maya,{{cite web|last=Heaney|first=Gregory|title=[Id]|url={{AllMusic |pure_url=yes |class=album |id=r1736521 |tab=review}}|work=Allmusic|publisher=Rovi Corporation|access-date=17 October 2011}} Vildhjarta,{{cite web|last=Hart|first=Josh|title=Vildhjarta Unveil New Album Details, Post Teaser Video|url=http://www.guitarworld.com/vildhjarta-unveil-new-album-details-post-teaser-video|work=Guitar World|publisher=Future US|access-date=17 October 2011|date=6 October 2011}} and Xerath.{{cite web|last=Rivadavia|first=Eduardo|title=II review|url=http://www.allmusic.com/album/ii-mw0002130423|work=Allmusic|publisher=Rovi Corporation|access-date=17 October 2011}} Born of Osiris have also been described as being inspired by the djent movement. Furthermore, Hacktivist{{cite web|url=http://www.metalsucks.net/2011/10/17/djent-rappers-hacktivist-kind-enough-to-put-the-word-hack-right-there-in-the-name/|title=Djent-rappers Hacktivist Kind Enough to Put the Word Hack Right There in the Name|last=Rosenberg|first=Axl|publisher=MetalSucks|date=17 October 2011|access-date=1 May 2015}}{{cite web |author=Islander |date=9 November 2012 |title=Hacktivist |url=http://www.nocleansinging.com/2012/11/09/hacktivist/ |access-date=1 May 2015 |publisher=No Clean Singing}} and DVSR{{cite web|author=CroOZza|title=DVSR - Got-Djent.com|url=http://got-djent.com/band/dvsr|date=25 November 2013|access-date=31 March 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180330210139/http://got-djent.com/band/dvsr|archive-date=30 March 2018|url-status=dead}} are djent bands that use rapping as a primary vocal style.{{Cite web |last=Pasbani |first=Robert |date=5 May 2014 |title=Is Nü-Djent The Next Big Thing? |url=https://metalinjection.net/editorials/is-nu-djent-the-next-big-thing |access-date=22 March 2022 |website=Metal Injection |language=en-US}}

Djent as a style is characterized by progressive, rhythmic, and technical complexity accompanied by a use of polymetric groove. An example is the song "Cafo" by Animals as Leaders. It typically features heavily-distorted, palm-muted guitar chords, syncopated riffs, and poly-meters alongside virtuosic solos.{{cite web|last=Bowcott|first=Nick|title=Meshuggah Share the Secrets of Their Sound|url=http://www.guitarworld.com/meshuggah-share-secrets-their-sound|work=Guitar World|publisher=Future US|access-date=17 October 2011|date=26 June 2011|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160517094739/http://www.guitarworld.com/meshuggah-share-secrets-their-sound|archive-date=17 May 2016}} Another common feature is the use of extended range guitars that are seven-string, eight-string, and nine-string, or even more strings.{{cite web|url=http://www.metalinjection.net/editorials/heres-why-everyone-needs-to-stop-complaining-about-extended-range-guitars|title=Here's Why Everyone Needs To Stop Complaining About Extended Range Guitars|last=Kennelty|first=Greg|date=26 February 2014 }}

Bands such as Tesseract and Animals as Leaders have received positive critical reception and multiple awards. Post-metal band Rosetta is noted as saying, "Maybe we should start calling doom metal 'DUNNN'".{{cite web|title=What is your opinion of Djent?|url=http://rosettaband.com/post/3717740328/what-is-your-oppinion-of-djent#notes|publisher=Rosetta band|access-date=29 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120128030414/http://rosettaband.com/post/3717740328/what-is-your-oppinion-of-djent#notes|archive-date=28 January 2012|url-status=dead}} In response to a question about "djent", Lamb of God vocalist Randy Blythe stated in 2011, "There is no such thing as 'djent'; it's not a genre".{{cite web|last=Blythe|first=Randy|title=Lamb of God's Randy Blythe on Djent|url=http://www.smnnews.com/2011/09/16/lamb-of-gods-randy-blythe-on-djent-its-not-a-genre-its-stupid-as-fuck/|publisher=smn news|access-date=29 November 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908071146/http://www.smnnews.com/2011/09/16/lamb-of-gods-randy-blythe-on-djent-its-not-a-genre-its-stupid-as-fuck/|archive-date=8 September 2012|url-status=dead}} Deftones guitarist Stephen Carpenter similarly opined in 2016 that "I thoroughly can get djent, I even have great appreciation for the bands, and I mean Meshuggah is one of my favorite bands. But it's just not a genre. It's just metal".{{Cite web|date=23 February 2016|title=Deftones' Stephen Carpenter On "Gore": "I Didn't Want To Play On The Record To Begin With"|url=https://www.theprp.com/2016/02/23/news/deftones-stephen-carpenter-on-gore-i-didnt-want-to-play-on-the-record-to-begin-with/|access-date=18 March 2021|website=Theprp.com|language=en-US}} In an interview with Guitar Messenger, Periphery guitarist Misha Mansoor said:

{{blockquote|I was looking for gear that was djenty. I was like: 'Are these pickups djenty?' For some reason it caught on, but completely in the wrong way, because people think it's a style of music and they think it's a style of music I play.{{cite web|last=Mansoor|first=Misha|title=MARC OKUBO (VEIL OF MAYA) & MISHA MANSOOR (PERIPHERY) INTERVIEW|url=http://www.guitarmessenger.com/interviews/marc-okubo-veil-of-maya-misha-mansoor-periphery-interview/|publisher=guitar messenger|access-date=7 March 2012}}}}

In a later interview with Freethinkers Blog, Mansoor stated that he felt djent had become "this big umbrella term for any sort of progressive band, and also any band that will [use] off-time chugs [...] You also get bands like Scale the Summit [who are referred to as] a djent band [when] 80% of their stuff sounds like clean channel, and it's all beautiful and pretty, you know [...] In that way, I think it's cool because it groups really cool bands together [...] We are surrounded by a lot of bands that I respect, but at the same time, I don't think people know what djent is either [...] It's very unclear". Later in the interview, he stated, "If you call us djent, that's fine. I mean, I would never self-apply the term, but at the same time, it's just so vague that I don't know what to make of it"."Periphery interview part 3 of 3." FreethinkersBlog. 19 February 2012. Retrieved 28 August 2013. . [https://web.archive.org/web/20210430151117/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bE0Q_9nQ9U Archived] from the original on April 30, 2021 In 2023, Periphery directly referenced the term's controversy with the subtitle of their seventh studio album, Periphery V: Djent is not a Genre.

Tosin Abasi of Animals as Leaders takes a more lenient view of the term, stating that there are specific characteristics that are common to djent bands, and as a result the term can be legitimately used as a genre. While stating that he personally strives not to subscribe exclusively to any one genre, he makes the point that a genre is defined by the ability to associate common features between different artists. He says that in this way, it is possible to view djent as a genre describing a particular niche of modern progressive metal.{{cite web |last=Abasi |first=Tosin |date=12 September 2012 |title=Tosin Abasi's Opinion of Djent |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0onF_McFiBk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210504052222/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0onF_McFiBk |archive-date=4 May 2021 |access-date=20 October 2017 |website=YouTube}}

• List of djent bands

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{{Progressive music}}

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