| D-beat | |
|---|---|
| Stylistic origins | Hardcore punk, Anarcho-punk, New Wave of British Heavy Metal |
| Cultural origins | Early 1980s England and Sweden |
| Typical instruments | Vocals - Electric guitar - Bass - drums |
| Mainstream popularity | Underground |
| Derivative forms | Crust punk Thrashcore Swedish death metal |
D-beat (also known as discrust, discore,[1] or kängpunk[2]) is a style of hardcore punk developed in the early 1980s by imitators of Discharge, for whom the genre is named.[3][4] Discharge may have themselves inherited the beat from Motörhead.[5] The first such group was The Varukers.[1]
The vocal content of D-beat tends towards shouted slogans. The style is distinct from its predecessors by its minimal lyrical content and greater proximity to heavy metal. It is closely associated with crust punk, which is a heavier, more complex variation.[2] D-beat bands typically have anti-war, anarchist messages and closely follow the bleak nuclear war imagery of 1980s anarcho-punk bands. The style was particularly popular in Sweden, and developed there by groups such as Anti Cimex,[6] Mob 47,[7] Driller Killer,[6] Wolfpack, No Security,[6] Totalitär, Avskum, Skitsystem and Disfear are also Swedish D-beat groups.[8] Other D-beat groups include Doom, from the UK;[9] Disclose, from Japan; Crucifix and Final Conflict, from the U.S.; Ratos de Porão, from Brazil; and MG15, from Spain. As punk historian Ian Glasper writes, "In the turbulent wake of Discharge, a hundred Discore - or D-beat - punk bands sprang up around the world."[10]
Rock journalist Robbie Mackey described D-beat as characterized by "hardcore drumming set against breakneck riffage and unintelligible howls about anarchy, working-stiffs-as-rats, and banding together to, you know, fight."[11]
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The first Swedish D-beat song is "Marquee," by Rude Kids, from Stockholm, recorded in 1979.[12] They were followed by KSMB (En Slemmig Torsk), Missbrukarna, and more famously, Anti Cimex.[5] Anti Cimex's second 7" EP, Raped Ass, has been described as "one of the rawest and most violent hardcore releases ever."[5] Other such groups included Shitlickers, Moderat Likvidation, Mob 47, and Asocial.[13] Mob 47 is credited with mixing Discharge's style with American hardcore punk.[14] Many of these later groups began to practice the crust punk style.[15] Scandinavian bands, including Driller Killer, Totalitär, Skitsystem, Wolfbrigade, and Disfear, remain some of the most well-known D-beat bands, although their sound has cleaved closely to developments in death metal.[16]
The name "D-beat" refers to a specific drumbeat, associated with The Varukers, Brian Roe (Brains), Discharge, Garry Malloney & Tez Roberts, Discharge's first drummer,[3] though rock musicians such as Buzzcocks and Diamond Head had used the beat previously. The term was coined by Rich Militia, the singer of Sore Throat, in 1988, to describe the drum pattern played by Dave "Bambi" Ellesmere, Roberts's replacement, on Discharge's EP Why?.
Three versions of D-beat drum tabs:
First (like early Anti Cimex and Discharge):
C:|x--x-x--x--x-x--:|| S:|--o---o---o---o-:|| K:|o--o-o--o--o-o--:|| 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + S=snare K=kick C=crash
Second - Verse & Chorus (like Avskum):
H:|x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-:|| C:|x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-:|| S:|--o---o---o---o-:|| S:|--o---o---o---o-:|| K:|o--o-o--o--o-o--:|| K:|o--o-o--o--o-o--:|| 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + S=snare K=kick H=hihat C=crash
Third (Speed metal beat) (listen to sample or ):
H:|x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-:|| S:|--o---o---o---o-:|| K:|o----o--o--o-o--:|| 1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + S=snare K=kick H=hihat
Discharge and other D-beat bands influenced the thrash metal bands of the mid-1980s (particularly Metallica, Anthrax and Sepultura).
Although bands have played in this style since the early 1980s, hardcore punk is currently experiencing a resurgence of interest in Discharge and Scandinavian/Japanese- influenced hardcore. Many of these bands also take inspiration from crust punk; bands such as Wolfbrigade and Tragedy are largely responsible for the movement towards fusing the driving Discharge sound with dark, melodic elements reminiscent of Amebix.
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