JAZZ HISTORY-MUSIC 114

Djent Music Analysis

Music conveys an approach of articulating various emotions, including feelings through varying sounds, rhythms, words, as well as instrumentation. Generally, music is essential to individuals whereby it can have a substantial effect on their moods and feelings. For instance, rock music can calm some individuals when they are upset or angry or can assist some individuals in releasing their aggression. Music impacts individuals differently, and every individual conveys their favorite type or at least one genre of music that they prefer more than others. I listen to various genres of music locally and internationally, and there is no particular genre of music I can say that I hate. However, when it comes to Djent music, a type of contemporary progressive metal, the music does not move me at all. Music entails conveying emotions, but in Djent, music is considered simply playing and integrating as many tensions as possible on any chord and tapping the tensions as fast as one can. Henceforth, this paper is focused on evaluating Djent music through the use of a Zoom interview with one of my friends who is a fan of Djent music. Also, the paper will use both scholarly and non-scholarly articles and journals to analyze Djent music better. The interviewee’s name was kept anonymous because for confidentiality purposes, promoting ethical consideration in the interview process.

As music has continued to progress across the years, musicians have started experimenting with new sounds within various genres. Heavy metal in the contemporary era has broken up into numerous styles, each conveying its significant following. The Djent genre happens to be one of the recent additions within the broader scene of heavy metal. The Djent style has evolved from online societies on forums devoted to Meshuggah band as well as seven-string guitars (Whitehead, 2019). According to Mądro (2017), Djent is an onomatopoeia term, and it happens to be a subgenre of contemporary progressive metal whereby its distinctive sound is characterized by substantial-gain, low-pitch, distorted, as well as palm-muted guitar. The name Djent was not purposed to define the genre, but the guitar riff techniques played by math-metal band Meshuggah. The band is among the popular Djent band, which are highly technical with “extreme adeptness with their instruments, long solos, and complicated riffs with complex time signatures, oftentimes played on seven- and eight-string guitars” (Deiterman, 2014).

According to the interviewee, he prefers listening to Djent music because of their concept albums as they help in forgetting his problems and transporting him to a fantasy universe. Concept albums are significantly prevalent in metal music, specifically within contemporary progressive metal music. Rose (2015) implies that concept albums can be described as a body of works conveying a primary theme or narrative, whereby both lyrics and the visual, musical imageries are intrinsically connected. To explain this phenomenon, the interviewee provided an example of the Juggernaut album. Throughout the Juggernaut album by the band Periphery, there is a primary narrative that develops the theme of every song within the album. The interviewee describes that the story emphasizes the main character raised into a cult, whereby they grapple with disputing emotions concerning the practices of the cults. Eventually, the character falls in love and decides to commit suicide, which results in their expedition through hell before elevating to higher spiritual planes. Conveying a narrative flowing in this manner tends to be defining elements of a concept album. Periphery, arguably one of the first bands to play Djent, also utilizes their lyrics as their primary technique of narrating a story; however, it is strengthened by the instrumental sections as well as the songs’ names (Whitehead, 2019).

Consequently, the interviewee claimed that rhythms, including the instrumentation of Djent, are very important to him as he is always swayed by the rhythm and instrumentation, and from there, they can dictate the quality of the song. Djent conveys a rhythm to it, including instrumentation that is relatively different from other music genres. While lyrics are considered vital in understanding the narrative behind Djent music, the instrumentation section tends to be purposefully composed to reinforce the underlying emotions of the music (Marrington, 2017). In the example of the Juggernaut album provided by the interviewee, the instrumentation section supports the central feelings that the character encounters in every section of the story. This happens to be observed throughout the Juggernaut album, whereby each song conveys instrumentation that suits the lyrical emotions. Specifically, in the songs The Event as well as Four Lights, the instrumental part is fundamental in narrating the story since there are vocals. Hence, the narrative cannot be displayed lyrically or vocally. The titles of Djent music also assist Djent artists in narrating the primary story.

The interviewee also suggested that some guitar-based Djent songs trigger powerful emotions like chill and thrill. He described that some songs, such as Libra by Intervals and Priestess by Periphery, trigger profound positive emotions through his memories. According to the University of Jyväskylä – Jyväskylän yliopisto (2018), individuals convey encounters of being emotionally swayed after listening to a particular song that has profound personal memories. Consequently, positive emotional responses can be evoked by music, including images, and these processes can substantially be associated with musical interceptions that try to utilize the positive emotions’ impact through personal memories or out of how it sounds. Researches have also proved that “music evokes emotions through mechanisms that are not unique to music” (Maksimainen et al., 2018). Therefore, I agree with the author that music remains one of the popular source for daily pleasure and distinct emotions. He also mentioned that music engagement allows both artists and audiences to reflect on everyday life events, past experiences, exposure patterns, and prevailing opinions. His ideas make me believe that music remains a popular culture for expression and creativity.

In relation to the interviewee’s response and Djent music, Djent guitar techniques in some songs can evoke particular positive emotions. For instance, Priestess tends to be a song emphasizing the described character meeting a person who thinks like him, whereby he falls in love with them. This section of the narrative in the song is considered positive, which is displayed within the musical arrangement. The song significantly incorporates acoustic guitars at the beginning. When the electric guitars start to play, they display lower dynamics than the normal structure in the entire album. If the vocal section and the lyrics are taken out, the positive and optimistic feeling happens to be present since the instrumental section was composed to reinforce the content of the lyrics.

The song Graveless, also composed by Periphery, indicates how the band drifts their instrumental songs to fit the narrative’s emotions. The song conveys various close, major, including minor second harmony that generates unsettling emotions. Hannan (2018) implies that music sections that the audience finds challenging to rhythmically follow generate a heavier sounding part. Periphery does this professionally in Graveless second verse while applying various close harmonies to enhance the song’s tension. The song also utilizes various low-tuned, staccato melodies to generate angry-sounding parts.

Conclusively, I might not appreciate the numerous benefits of the Djent genre, but after conducting the interviewee and evaluating scholarly and non-scholarly articles, I realize the genre has a lot to offer. As earlier described, Djent is considered a subgenre of contemporary progressive metal and has complex composed riffs. Through the analysis, I understand that Djent music conveys numerous elements that are relatively different from other genres and can trigger various emotions in individuals that prefer this type of music. Djent music is also associated with the release of concept albums, whereby all the songs focus on a specific theme or narrative. Djent guitarists are widely acknowledged for playing complicated riffs that convey deep meaning as well as intellectual value to the listeners.

References

Deiterman, C. (2014). What the Hell Is Djent Metal Anyway?. Houston Press. Retrieved 30 June 2021, from https://www.houstonpress.com/music/what-the-hell-is-djent-metal-anyway-6777469.

Hannan, C. (2018). Difficulty as heaviness: Links between rhythmic difficulty and perceived heaviness in the music of Meshuggah and The Dillinger Escape Plan. Metal Music Studies, 4(3), 433-458.

Mądro, A. (2017). From Psychedelia to Djent–Progressive Genres as a Paradox of Pop Culture. In Popular Music Studies Today (pp. 159-167). Springer VS, Wiesbaden.

Maksimainen, J., Wikgren, J., Eerola, T., & Saarikallio, S. (2018). The effect of memory in inducing pleasant emotions with musical and pictorial stimuli. Scientific reports, 8(1), 1-12.

Marrington, M. (2017). From DJ to djent-step: Technology and the re-coding of metal music since the 1980s. Metal Music Studies, 3(2), 251-268.

Rose, P. (2015). Roger waters and pink floyd: The concept albums. Rowman & Littlefield.

University of Jyväskylä – Jyväskylän yliopisto. (2018). Music evokes powerful positive emotions through personal memories. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/12/181211090659.htm

Whitehead, J. (2019). Exploring the defining characteristics of the contemporary metal ‘djent’scape as represented by the band Periphery.