djent
English edit
Etymology edit
Onomatopoeia for a high-gain, distorted palm-muted, low pitch guitar sound; coined by guitarist Fredrik Thordendal (b. 1970) of the Swedish extreme metal band Meshuggah.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
djent (uncountable)
- (neologism) A style of progressive heavy metal music characterized by rhythmic and technical complexity, and typically featuring heavily distorted, palm-muted guitar chords, syncopated, downtuned riffs, and polyrhythms alongside virtuoso soloing.
- 2015, Brian Giffin, Encyclopaedia of Australian Heavy Metal, page 2232:
- […] they later evolved into a progressive technical metal band with elements of mathcore and djent.
Translations edit
A music genre
Verb edit
djent (third-person singular simple present djents, present participle djenting, simple past and past participle djented)
- (slang) To play a djent riff.
- But does it djent?
- 2016, Patrick Johnson, Departure:
- It may have thirteen strings, but can it Djent?
- 2020 February 7, Tyler Larson, “Djent for Dummies: A How-To Guide”, in Guitar World:
- Be creative in your arrangement for maximum djenting effectiveness.
- 2021, Steven Gamble, How Music Empowers: Listening to Modern Rap and Metal:
- A particular meme sees individuals preoccupied with the question "does it djent?", a way of ascertaining the suitability of equipment (Rabea Massaad 2015).