Discharge are an English hardcore punk band formed in 1977 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The band is known for influencing several sub-genres of extreme music and their songs have been covered by many notable artists in heavy metal and other genres. The musical sub-genre of D-beat is named after Discharge and the band's distinctive drumbeat.

The band is characterized by a minimalistic approach to music and lyrics, using a heavy, distorted, and grinding guitar-driven sound and raw, shouted vocals similar to a political speech, with lyrics on anarchist and pacifist themes, over intense drone-like rhythms. The band's sound has been called a "grave-black aural acid assault." Discharge "paved the way for an astounding array of politically motivated, musically intense and deeply confrontational bands" and displayed a "revolutionary/activist" political attitude that moved British hardcore punk away from its pub rock origins and towards a "dangerous and provocative" or anti-establishment leftist territory.

Discharge influenced various extreme metal styles such as thrash metal, black metal, crust punk and grindcore. The band's "brutal, extremist approach" and "extreme thrash noise" style of playing eventually led to the thrash genre. "Discharge's influence on heavy metal is incalculable and metal superstars such as Metallica, Anthrax, Machine Head, Sepultura, Soulfly, Prong and Arch Enemy have covered Discharge's songs in tribute." Discharge is a major influence on at least two generations of metal. They soon recruited Roberts's younger brother Anthony "Bones" Roberts on lead guitar, Nigel Bamford on bass, and Anthony "Akko" Axon (sometimes known as "Hacko") on drums. The tempo of the band's songs also steadily increased over the next year or so. The band also expressed its political and social themes in its albums' artwork, which depicted the horrors of war using an influential black-and-white photography style. One of the notable images is the "Impaled Dove" artwork from a 1930s John Heartfield anti-war poster, which depicts a dove impaled on a bayonet. The first gig with this new line-up and new sound was at Northwood Parish Hall. Among the audience was local record shop owner Mike Stone, who ran the Clay Records punk record label. Tom G. Warrior of Celtic Frost credited Discharge as "a revolution, much like Venom", saying, "When I heard the first two Discharge records, I was blown away. I was just starting to play an instrument and I had no idea you could go so far. And to me, they were unlike other punk bands--they sounded more like metal."

Discharge recorded their first full-length album, 1982's Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing, which was later named the number one punk album of all time in a poll by Terrorizer magazine. The album reached number two on the indie album chart and number 40 in the UK Album Chart. Treble zine states that the album was "much, much heavier" than previous punk and states that it influenced "punk rock, [and]... metal circles" with its "raw and intense" sound. Anthrax guitarist Scott Ian stated in 2015 that "You put on... Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing album now, and it's still as heavy and brutal as anything out there."

The group played regularly throughout the UK, often appearing with bands such as GBH and The Exploited, and the success of the debut album also saw them touring Canada, the United States, Italy, Yugoslavia, Holland, Finland, and Sweden. The Warning... EP shows drastic stylistic differences, with Morris changing his angry shouts to a mix of regular singing and football chants. Morris began to use a heavy metal, Ozzy Osbourne-influenced vocal style. As well, the band used significantly slower tempos and their D-beat punk style was replaced with metal-oriented beats. In 2014, Rat played his last show with the band in Ireland and was then fired.

End of Days (2014–present)

Shortly after Rat's firing, it was announced that Jeff "JJ" Janiak would be taking over vocal duties whilst Tezz Roberts returned to the band, except this time on rhythm guitar rather than drums. This made Discharge a five-piece for the first time. On 3 June 2015, the group premiered a new song called "New World Order". An EP of the same title was released on 16 January 2016. On 3 March 2016, the Nuclear Blast YouTube channel uploaded a new song, "Hatebomb", which would later on be available through other streaming services. End of Days, Discharge's seventh studio album, was released on 29 April through Nuclear Blast Records and entered the Official UK rock charts at No. 10 and on the indie charts at No. 23. The success of the album saw the band touring Europe and the US. MetalBlast gave the album a positive review, stating that it "...showcases everything about the band that has earned them their legendary status. The guitar work is fast and brutal, that famous D-beat drumming pattern is in full effect, and the vocals are a gruff, angry bark." The review states that the "songs are short, violent bursts of punk rock fury, brimming with an energy" with "a real sense of menace and sincerity in the tone" and it is "[r]elentless from start to finish".

On 30 December 2017, the group played a support slot for the original Misfits reunion at the LA Forum in Los Angeles, California. The 17,000 capacity venue sold out in less than one minute.

Influence

thumb|Discharge performing in 2024

As well defining the D-beat subgenre, Discharge influenced bands operating within other types of extreme music. Decibel magazine states that there are "...few bands who have had more influence over so many different scenes than Discharge", including the first generation of thrash, grindcore, and hardcore groups.

"Discharge's influence on heavy metal is incalculable and metal superstars such as Metallica, Anthrax, and Sepultura have covered Discharge's songs in tribute." The band's singer/guitarist Steve Von Till stated that Discharge "...bridged the gap between Motörhead, Venom and punk rock" with their "huge fucking wall-of-sound guitar that was just ridiculously punishing, taking on heavy metal's gain and volume but creating something totally unique and new."

Early grindcore acts such as Napalm Death and Repulsion were influenced by Discharge, as were death metal acts such as At the Gates and Nihilist. Discharge were also crucial to the development of crust punk, influencing many of the first crust bands, such as Doom, Hellbastard and Antisect. Sodom, Holocausto, Sepultura, Sarcófago, Attila Csihar, Blasphemy, Queens Of The Stone Age, Machine Head, Prong, Dogstar, and Slipknot. James Hetfield of Metallica nominated Cal Morris for Rolling Stones 100 Greatest Singers poll.

Discharge's wide influence can also be seen in the range of cover versions recorded by hardcore punk and metal groups. The Scottish anarcho-punk band Oi Polloi covered the song "State Violence, State Control". During the same period, the Swedish hardcore punk band Mob 47 covered "Never Again" on their Ultimate Attack recording. New York City anarchist crust band Nausea recorded "Ain't No Feeble Bastard" and "Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing", on The Punk Terrorist Anthology, Vol. 1. Swedish grindcore band Nasum covered "Visions of War" for a tribute compilation. D-beat/hardcore band From Ashes Rise recorded "Hell on Earth". In 2003, US hardcore band Ensign covered "Protest and Survive" on their album of covers Love the Music, Hate the Kids. Swedish melodic death metal band Arch Enemy covered the song "Warning" on their 2011 album Khaos Legions.

Metal groups from several subgenres have recorded Discharge songs. Thrash metal bands covering Discharge material include Metallica ("Free Speech For The Dumb" and "The More I See", on their covers album Garage Inc.); Anthrax ("Protest and Survive" on their album Attack of the Killer B's); and Sepultura ("A Look At Tomorrow", "Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing" and "Protest and Survive"). The groove metal band Machine Head covered "The Possibility of Life's Destruction" as a bonus track to their album The More Things Change.... Soulfly covered "Ain't No Feeble Bastard" and "The Possibility of Life's Destruction".

UK doom metal band Solstice covered "Protest & Survive". Norwegian black metal band Carpathian Forest covered "The Possibilities of Life's Destruction" on their compilation album We're Going to Hell for This: Over a Decade of Perversions, while grindcore/death metal band Napalm Death covered "War's No Fairytale" on their Leaders Not Followers: Part 2 album. Swedish melodic death metal band At the Gates covered "The Nightmare Continues" as a hidden track on their With Fear I Kiss the Burning Darkness album. French doom/sludge band Monarch! covered "A Look at Tomorrow" on their A Look at Tomorrow/Mass Destruction EP. UK drone/sludge band Moss covered "Maimed And Slaughtered" on their Tombs of the Blind Drugged EP. British black metal band The Meads of Asphodel recorded a medley style cover of "Hell on Earth" and "Blood Runs Red" for their 2006 EP In the Name of God, Welcome to Planet Genocide.

Members

Current members

  • Terry "Tezz" Roberts – vocals , drums , guitar
  • Roy "Rainy" Wainwright – bass , guitar
  • Tony "Bones" Roberts – guitar
  • Dave "Proper Caution" Bridgwood – drums
  • Jeff "JJ" Janiak – vocals

Discography

  • Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing (1982)
  • Grave New World (1986)
  • Massacre Divine (1991)
  • Shootin' Up the World (1993)
  • Discharge (2002)
  • Disensitise (2008)
  • End of Days (2016)

References

  • Official website