Djent
Djent is (arguably) a modern sub-genre of music within Rock, particularly heavy metal (and even more particularly metal-core). What sets it apart from other types of Rock are its focus on syncopated rhythms, embrace of progressive or experimental elements, down-tuned or extended-range guitars, and contrasting ambient clean and distorted rhythm sections. Vocals are often a mixture of clean vocals (sometimes melodic and sometimes sustained chants) and rhythmic screams/growls, although many Djent bands do not feature vocals at all. While the sub-genre of Djent takes its name from the "djent" sound of multi-note distorted palm-muted "chugs", not all artists use these prominently, while others rely heavily upon them (usually to feature a syncopated rhythm), sometimes using them almost exclusively for entire songs.
Popular bands include Meshuggah, Periphery, Tessseract, and Monuments.
Chugging
Djent typically prefers a larger power chord for chugs than Thrash or other styles. This takes the following form on a standard tuned 8-string:
A--4--7-- E--2--5-- B--2--5-- F#-0--3-- p p
Or in a drop-D style tuning (7 string tuned to drop A below - A E A D G B E):
D--2--5-- A--0--3-- E--0--3-- A--0--3-- p p
The additional note(s) above the standard 2 or 3 note power chord really allow the "djent" sound to come through. But you have to be sure you pick each note with the same strength. This is more difficult than it sounds - holding your palm against the strings makes it more difficult to perform a large strumming motion. One way to assist in this regard is to angle your picking hand so that it is more parallel with the strings, as though you are getting ready for a heavy downstroke. This may require shortening your strap length so your guitar is slung higher (closer to your chest/head).
Another thing to keep in mind is where you are muting the strings with your palm. Traditionally, artists didn't use fully saturated distortion and mutes were actually muted notes - less prominent than unmuted notes. In metal and Djent in particular, mutes are their own thing, with equal or even greater prominence than unmuted notes. Traditional palm muting technique dictates to mute the string very close to the bridge; however, with more extreme distortion, the mute is audible even as you move your palm away from the bridge and towards the nut. This changes the tone, with the mute featuring less resonant bass and becoming more percussive, but still retaining that metallic djent sound. This is particularly the case with baritone guitars or any guitars that have an extended scale on the lower strings. Combined with the thicker strings of 7 and 8 strings, such palm mutes still have pitch rather than sounding more like a muted strum, which is entirely transients and purely percussive. Try chugging on a muted power chord and moving your palm slowly away and back towards the bridge while you are playing to hear how it sounds different.
Riffing in Extended Ranges
Djent very often features 7 or 8 string guitars, often tuned lower than the standard B (B E A D G B E) of a 7 string. This creates some issues with distorted guitars, preventing Thrash-style riffing from working effectively in the lower register(s). The most obvious issue is that intervals and chords can sound quite dissonant or muddy. Instead, the Djent style often prefers to use single notes. Where richer tones are wanted, Djent typically substitutes quick alternation between the notes - thus riffs are structured around this.
E--------------------------------- B--------------------------------- G--------------------------------- D--------------------------------- A--------------------------------- E---------------------5-----5----- B---3-----5-----1----------------- F#----1-0---3-0---3-0---4-3---3-0-
Also, since riffs this low can lead to issues with clearly hearing what notes are being played, Djent often uses larger intervals between notes, with plenty of octave-wide jumps.
E----------------------------------------------------
B----------------------------------------------------
G----------------------------------------------------
D----------------------------------------------------
A--------------------------------10/14---------------
E---14----------13-----------------------------------
B---------------------------7/8----------------------
F#------12--0-------12--0---------------13-p0--0--0--
p
The low register can also make repetitive palm mutes on lower notes unclear. So where thrash might play 16th note palm mutes on the open E string, Djent will turn this into a more rhythmic groove.
F#--0-----0-0----0-0----0---(x)---0----0-0----0-----
p p p
And there is less chord work and other stand-out ways to accent a riff, often other ways are used to embellish a single note:
- Using an upstroke instead of a downstroke
- Applying 1/4 bends or reverse 1/4 bends to a note
- Using hammer-on from nothing grace notes right before picking a note
Rhythmic Arsenal
Since Djent often has a very rhythmic focus on the guitars, Djent makes use of a wide variety of ways to vary the tone for a note, allowing the contrast to help accent certain beats over others:
- Hammer-on the note from nothing
- Preceed the note with a quick palm mute
- Using different choking on palm mutes
- Using 1/4 bends or reverse bends
- Applying light artificial harmonics
- Sliding down or up into the note
- Muted (left-hand) strummed notes
- Quickly muting notes to apply rests between notes
Guitar Tones
Extended-range guitars or tunings can get quite muddy with distortion, even with modern amplifiers that feature relatively "tight" distortion. Djent relies on very bright boost pedals, or sometimes even cocked wahs to really focus the brunt of the distortion away from lower frequencies. This leads to a metallic, clanky, "quack"-type sound on unmuted notes, while ensuring that muted chugs really have that djent sound (it literally sounds like you are saying "djent").
Some artists use less distortion to add clarity to the notes, but simultaneously use a compressor to retain the thick, saturated feel of heavy distortion.
Since Djent often uses rests to contrast the distorted guitar notes and give the guitar a more rhythmic feel, artists use Noise Gates with high/fast settings to go quickly from loud, accented notes to complete silence.
Clean tones are usually bright and pristinely clean, laden with reverb. Djent often uses cleans to give compositions more harmonic content than the rhythmic distorted riffs; however, it often avoids playing chords, instead playing single notes, allowing the reverb to allow each note to overlap, creating intervals or even chords if the decay time is long enough. The reverb also helps the single notes fill more space in the mix rather than getting buried.