The Djent Controversy

As some readers may remember, I mentioned the controversy associated with the subgenre of heavy metal called djent in the previous post characterizing it. In this post, I’d like to talk about that controversy in more detail because it seems to be an issue that is still heavy debated.

Many critics, musicians and fans think that bands associated with djent should just be called "progressive metal bands" due to the strong similarities between the subgenres. Djent bands for the most part get their classification because of the palm-muted guitar tone associated with their music. 

One of the members of the metal band Rosetta once said, “Maybe we should just call doom metal ‘DUNNN,’” and he has a point. Why should a subgenre be as musically specific as djent? Why can’t it all be called “progressive metal” since the music certainly falls into its musical family?

When Periphery guitarist Misha Mansoor started the djent craze, he never meant for it to catch on. It was more of a joke between him and his bandmates. Mansoor doesn’t try and disassociate his band from the djent scene, and is happy to be categorized into that subgenre. However, he doesn’t think of Periphery as a djent band--he considers them to just be progressive metal.

Many bands have jumped into the djent niche head first, trying to get associated with the tight-knit scene. For example, Born of Osiris, who has now become a very popular band in the djent scene, was initially a deathcore band. Their desire to be more technical and the emergence of the scene influenced them to dabble in the music as well. Since then, they have become much more successful with the stylistic switch.

Some bands just got accidentally lumped into the scene. Animals as Leaders just wanted to be an instrumental progressive metal band. From the very beginning, their influence from Meshuggah was apparent, and their production was abnormally clean. Therefore, they got associated with the scene, and they never made an attempt to really break away. Frontman Tosin Abasi acknowledges that he does not strive to be a part of the djent scene, but doesn’t mind being a part of it anyway. Still, Animals as Leaders’ most recent album shows stylistically that the band is trying to appease fans of the subgenre.

The question now becomes: is djent a subgenre or a niche? The honest answer is: no one knows. Personally, I consider it to be a subgenre. It’s a style of music that is distinct, and the differences between progressive metal and djent just mount as time goes on. 

The scenes are also completely different. No one ever sees a fan of Periphery going to a Fates Warning concert. It just doesn’t happen, even though they both fall in the progressive family. Part of the reason why that happens is probably because the musical styles have recently become more separated. Djent is undeniably progressive, but its distinct production qualities, guitar tones, reliance on polyrhythm and usage of computerized sounds make djent a totally different subgenre of music than progressive metal.

The issue can be debated on and on, but djent has proven itself to be a distinct style of music over the past five years. It’s not a bad subgenre, either. There is definitely some musical merit to it, and the technical playing of these new musicians is incredible. Djent is a subgenre that I feel is more than welcome in the heavy genre, as long as people continue to enjoy it.