Djent

Djent is a recent movement that developed as a derivation of Progressive Metal, having as its birthplace, as well as being more evident in places such as northern Europe, the northeast of the United States and even Australia. The word “Djent” is an onomatopoeia for the sound of a distorted (high gain) guitar being played with palm muting, as used, for example, by the Swedish band Meshuggah, and as a term, having been created by guitarist Fredrik Thordendal, from the band Meshuggah.
Typically, the term is used to refer to the music that makes use of that sound, the sound itself, or the melody that surrounds it.

Development

Meshuggah guitarist Fredrik Thordendal.
In the 2000s, bands like the Swedish Meshuggah and the British Sikth already presented a sound with intense use of palm muting (muffling) on top of the backbeat, as well as the use of ambience, these bands, therefore, mainly Meshuggah, being precursors from Djent. Still among pioneering Djent bands, we have the Dutch Textures, the English TesseracT and the American Animals as Leaders.
The bands After the Burial and Born of Osiris have also been described as inspired by the genre. The movement, however, emerged after solo recordings by Misha Mansoor, guitarist for the American band Periphery, who later “incorporated” Djent from the “real world” into Metalcore. In a short time, the genre grew and became a trend, with numerous Metalcore bands emerging on the scenes, especially European and American, between 2009 and 2010. And incorporating small passages of “Djent” sections, usually in the ‘breakdowns’ in their music.

Characteristics
Djent, in its original sense, is a heavy chord played syncopally over a guitar riff, heavily digitally processed. Djent as a musical genre has been described and presented with intensely muffled and dissonant, heavily distorted guitar chords, as well as virtuoso solos and dynamic environments. It is still characterized as progressive, technical, rhythmic and often including polyrhythm, and therefore complex. Another common attribute of the style is computerized sound and the use of samplers to reproduce ambient sounds.

The strings on the djent
Among djent bands, guitars with seven, eight and even nine strings predominate (the latter being less common), in which the lower strings associated with the low tunings of the guitars sound the weight that characterizes the sound of the genre. There is even a series of guitars focused on this style. There is also the common use of five- and six-string basses, also in low tunings.

The term THALL, which is disseminated within the Djent scene, was created by members of the band Vildhjarta and spread across the internet through videos and social networks.

Its meaning, however, is not known in the Djent scene since the band members do not reveal it, claiming that it may lose its meaning, and therefore, the meaning of the term has been restricted to the band members. Vildhjarta has consequently made him synonymous with the band itself and even with Djent.