CHARACTERISTICS

Djent as a style is characterized by progressive, rhythmic, and technical complexity accompanied by a dense layer of polyphonic groove. An example is the song CAFO by Tosin Abasi. It typically features heavily distorted, palm-muted guitar chords, syncopated riffs, and polymeters alongside virtuoso soloing. Another common feature is the use of extended range seven-string, eight-string, and nine-string guitars.

DEVELOPMENT

Fredrik Thordendal, the guitarist of Swedish band Meshuggah, is considered the originator of the djent technique.However, the band did not coin the term itself; the djent scene developed from an online community of bedroom musicians, including Misha Mansoor, whose success with Periphery brought djent "from the virtual world into the real one." In a 2018 interview by Rauta, Meshuggah guitarist Mårten Hagström apologized for the band's role in creating the djent genre. Other bands important in the development of the style are Sikth, Mnemic, Animals as Leaders, Tesseract,and Textures. 

The scene has grown rapidly, and members of the original online community, including the bands Chimp Spanner, Sithu Aye, Gizmachi, and Monuments, have gone on to tour and release albums commercially. Other bands that often use djent include A Life Once Lost, Veil of Maya, Vildhjarta, and Xerath. Born of Osiris have also been described as being inspired by the djent movement. Furthermore, Hacktivist and DVSR are djent bands that use rapping as primary vocal style.