Djent Djournal: Five New Bands For Your Tuesday

Now that djent’s been on the decline for some time, the majority of the copycat acts have faded into irrelevance, allowing interesting artists to come out of the woodwork. Of course, this has resulted in a few bastardized musical atrocities, but it’s also given rise to a number of groups that are influenced by the movement’s stylistic characteristics, rather than defined by them.

Myth have been touched on before in metal, but Ovid’s Withering are the first band I’m aware of that have sculpted their entire premise around Greek mythology. Many of their lyrics are delivered as full-on theatrical narrative, complete with dialogue and elaborately scripted interactions between characters. Their music is a peculiar but throat-crushingly catchy blend of black metal, deathcore, and djent influences, with plenty of epic orchestral flourishes. The band’s debut album, Scryers of the Ibis, comes out November 13. Preorder here, and stream the band’s EP The Cloud Gatherer below.

D.C’s Wings Denied conflate the tickling melodic shred of Protest the Hero with Tesseract’s clean vocals and drawn-out rhythmic pulse. With a keen sense of organization and technicality, it’s virtuosic without becoming overcomplicated. Some spaces could use a few more screams, but the singing works almost everywhere and gives the band a more unique identity. Stream, watch, and download their new single “Generation Y,” off the band’s forthcoming 2014 full-length:

Walking Across Jupiter from St. Petersburg, Russia blend an aggressive djent attack with the atmospheric tendencies of post-rock and a touch of symphonic affect. Originally a one-man bedroom project, the band have now evolved into a fully active group – debut record “Scent” is instrumental, but the new material will include vocals. Though it can come off initially as a bit generic, it’s far more nuanced than it first appears, and it balances heaviness and less conventional elements remarkably well. Stream or download for just a dollar.

The San Francisco Bay Area doesn’t have too much in terms of instrumental metal, so Sea In The Sky are some of the only kids out there playing this kind of melody-riddled prog. Groove-happy and aware, their self-titled debut EP is a chilled-out 20 minutes that avoids both wankery and over-reliance on the bottom string. It’s both evocative and compelling, slightly reminiscent of CHON and Corelia without the superfluous technicality. Production’s a little raw, but everything’s crisp and audible enough to be able to tell that a pro studio recording of this stuff would sound absolutely ridiculous. Check out their EP below.

Given the recent drama surrounding Guitar Pro and programmed instruments, the debut album by Anup Sastry (drummer for Skyharbor, Jeff Loomis, and Intervals) is particularly interesting. The only real instruments are the drums, which tear frenetically through the album yet still maintain impeccable coherence; guitars and bass are entirely synthetic. That doesn’t change the fact that these instrumentals are damn good, and the tones are rich and articulate even though some tracks occasionally border on video-game status. Download the album for free and stream below.