How to Djent

The picture before I hit play on the video was the best part, and completely represents how I felt about this video! DuRRR!
 
It's a good thing I was eating while I watched this video, or otherwise I would have considered my time truly wasted.

I don't like the kiddo metal of today, and I sure hope to whatever is sacred that it passes as a fad genre, because quite frankly it sucks terribly. But the only thing that sucks more than "djent" is that video.
 
Detest this video, not because of it's content, but because of the idiotic gurning of the presenter which together with the editing, makes it a symbol of every kind of 'modern media' youtube video I hate. Multiple facial expression and editing cuts do not hide that fact that a person has nothing witty to say.

This is IMHO, of course.

I love the genre in actuality. It's like the metal version of glitch EDM, which I'm also a big fan of.
 
Speculum Speculorum said:
It's a good thing I was eating while I watched this video, or otherwise I would have considered my time truly wasted.

I don't like the kiddo metal of today, and I sure hope to whatever is sacred that it passes as a fad genre, because quite frankly it sucks terribly. But the only thing that sucks more than "djent" is that video.
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How original. This doesn't get said by anyone every single time there's a shift in genre style.
 
lern2swim said:
How original. This doesn't get said by anyone every single time there's a shift in genre style.
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Each to his own, I guess. I just personally find that the whole "djent" scene just gets silly - piss-poor understanding of everything other than hemiola when it comes to theory. Production where everything is compressed to the point where the whole piece is flat and lacking in power in the mix - very clear, but also static and unmoving. And finally, single-line writing over, and over, and over again. If that's the shift in genre style, it represents a shift toward deeper ignorance of musical depth.
 
Speculum Speculorum said:
Each to his own, I guess. I just personally find that the whole "djent" scene just gets silly - piss-poor understanding of everything other than hemiola when it comes to theory. Production where everything is compressed to the point where the whole piece is flat and lacking in power in the mix - very clear, but also static and unmoving. And finally, single-line writing over, and over, and over again. If that's the shift in genre style, it represents a shift toward deeper ignorance of musical depth.
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You know what? You have a point. There is a LOT of sh1t out there in the djent scene, and the production leaves a lot to be desired. Clear, yes. Overcompressed, for sure. Lacking in dynamics, absolutely. I find that they're the things that draw me in though. I wouldn't listen to it exclusively as you'll get sod all of a music education from it bar polyrhythms (and in some cases, odd time signatures.... some cases, because an awful lot of it still defaults to 4/4), but it's effective for certain things. Just like I wouldn't use a lump hammer to open a screw, I wouldn't listen to it all the time, but it has it's place. For me anyway, and yup! Each to their own! :)
 
people that act like it's all one string chugging and lacks musical complexity have obviously never really listened to it. Sure it has elements that fall into that, but there is some really good stuff out there as well. I don't play it but I really enjoy the good parts and find it can be heavy, crushing, beautiful, complex and exciting to listen to.

Just because it's not your thing doesn't take away from it or make it "simple" or "soulless" etc....
 
jlynnb1 said:
people that act like it's all one string chugging and lacks musical complexity have obviously never really listened to it. Sure it has elements that fall into that, but there is some really good stuff out there as well. I don't play it but I really enjoy the good parts and find it can be heavy, crushing, beautiful, complex and exciting to listen to.

Just because it's not your thing doesn't take away from it or make it "simple" or "soulless" etc....
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I think some of the elements of the whole "djent" think are really... really... neat! And that's about where it ends. The fanboys out there act like it's some sort of musical genius because it's got flippin' mixed groups of 2 and 3 over 4. Well woopdie friggin' doo! Go listen to Elliot Carter for an hour or two and let your noodle fry on rhythm. Oh, they can play stacked fifths in harmonic movements of thirds? Wow-ee-zow-ee! I urge you to listen to "And the Mountains Rising Nowhere" by Joseph Schwantner and bask in the glory of how he decorates those sonorities. Glitchy sections? Xenakis. Drones? Giaccinto Scelsi. Dem feels? "Fratres" by Arvo Part. Awesome harmonic complexity with very little change over periods of time? Steve Reich.

As I said earlier, my biggest beef is that in an effort to sound "big" and "brutal", most of the riffs become trite, boring, and lifeless. The production is totally flat to the point of losing all of my interest, and everything is compressed and limited to the point that it is sonically unexciting. Wow - the verse is as loud as the chorus! There is almost no envelope on any of the notes other than the tonal quality because home studio mastering!

They have, in an effort to gain that polished, big sound, reduced the music to a wall of nothingness. So why is it so exciting to people? Well, I'm assuming it's because a couple of generations have listened to music almost solely through earbuds or laptop speakers and that the quality is generally little more than a streamed Youtube channel or Soundcloud-like file sharing website delivering the loud wall of crap directly to the ears. Deaf mamma jammas, basically.
 
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