The difference, by ear
Also in odd time and also violent, but mathcore is chaotic on purpose and played by hand at the edge of collapse. Djent is machined, and meant to sound it.
Mathcore is growled or screamed where djent is part sung, part screamed, and much faster: 140 to 260 bpm against 90 to 160. Songs run longer in djent: usually 4 to 7 minutes, against 1½ to 4 minutes in mathcore. To hear the difference, play Meshuggah next to The Dillinger Escape Plan. Djent comes from the metal side of the tree and mathcore from the rock side, and mathcore came first, by fourteen years.
In figures
Djent
Where it sits
Heavy metal › Progressive metal › Djent
In short
The name imitates the sound: seven- or eight-string guitars, heavily compressed palm mutes and polyrhythms. Meshuggah built the vocabulary; a generation of forum users named it.
How it sounds
- Seven- or eight-string guitars, tuned very low, with heavily compressed palm mutes.
- Polyrhythm: the riff repeats on a cycle that does not line up with the drum meter.
- Precise digital production with a deliberately sterile tone and no reverb.
Key acts
- Meshuggah
- Periphery
- Animals as Leaders
- TesseracT
Start here
The pickMeshuggah - Nothing. Count the bars if you can.
Full page →Mathcore
Where it sits
Rock › Punk rock › Hardcore punk › Post-hardcore › Mathcore
In short
Metalcore with its wiring torn out: meter changes every few seconds, dissonance and chaos controlled to the millimetre.
How it sounds
- Meter changes every few seconds, executed at maximum speed.
- Dissonant chords and minor-second intervals used as primary material.
- Jazz-level drum technique applied at grindcore intensity.
Key acts
- The Dillinger Escape Plan
- Converge
- Botch
- Car Bomb
Start here
The pickConverge - Jane Doe. Technically mathcore, emotionally something else entirely.
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