Fear Before, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Ion Dissonance, Sleep Terror, Converge, etc. I am wondering theory wise, what type of chordal/scalar work do these bands normally use? I am trying to experiment a bit with it, and I can't seem to get that jazzy spazzy dissonant feeling that songs such as Whiskey Has Its Place, But Its Place Is In Hell by Fear before and the stuff by Ion Dissonance and the Dillinger Escape Plan.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, this stuff is much different writing wise and stylistically than straight death metal, which I am accustomed to writing.

Cheers

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I guess I'm not familiar with this type of music. My advice would be look up their tabs, analyze the chords and scales and try to apply these ideas in your own way.

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your best bet for those angular,dissonant sounds would be the diminished scales, but im pretty sure alot of that stuff(dillinger,into the moat, converge...) is composed entirely on the chromatic scale, or at least uses a shitload of chromatic passing notes. i agree with mr gravy, check out some tabs by these guys and see what sticks. also a large part of the aforementioned bands' sound has to do with rhythmic devices; polyrhythms, hemiolas, etc..maybe check out some of that stuff as well.

Use the symmetric (diminished, augmented, etc) and chromatic scales a lot.

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I know these bands use Dim5th chords and intervals fairly liberally, but they also use these "mathy" chords that sound happy, yet jarring at the same time. I am pretty sure they aren't augmented, definitely not diminished. Hmmm. And a lot of those bands have scarce amounts of decent tabs available.

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I've heard Dilinger use the minor 2nd in Setting Fire To Sleeping Gaints. That mad bit after the chorus. "EEE EEE EEE EEE EEE"

The jazzy verse bits sound augmented.
I've also heard them use diminished.

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