Discharge (band)

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Discharge
Discharge performing live in 2006
Background information
Origin	Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England
Genres	Hardcore punk heavy metal crust punk[1][2] street punk D-beat
Years active	1977–1987 1991–1999 2001–present
Labels	Clay Sanctuary Vile Candlelight Nuclear Blast
Members	Terence "Tezz" Roberts Royston "Rainy" Wainwright Anthony "Bones" Roberts David "Proper" Caution Jeff "JJ" Janiak
Past members	Nigel Bamford Anthony "Akko" Axon Kelvin "Cal" Morris Keith Haynes Dave "Bambi" Ellesmere "Garry" Maloney Peter "Pooch" Purtill (also spelled "Pyrtle") Les "The Mole" Hunt Micky Gibson Stephen "Fish" Brooks Robert "Rocky Shades" Barclay Andrew "Andy" Green Anthony "Jake" Morgan Nick Bushell Anthony "Rat" Martin Davey Quinn

Discharge are an English hardcore punk band formed in 1977 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire.^[3] The band is known for influencing several sub-genres of extreme music and their songs have been covered by some of the biggest names 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."^[1] Discharge "paved the way for an astounding array of politically motivated, musically intense and deeply confrontational bands". Discharge was "explicitly political" and displayed a "revolutionary/activist" attitude that moved British hardcore punk away from its pub rock origins and towards a "dangerous and provocative" or anti-establishment leftist territory.^[4]

Discharge paved the way for 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.^[5] "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."^[6] Discharge was a major influence on at least two generations of metal.^[1]