D-beat

D-beat
Stylistic origins	Street punk Hardcore punk Anarcho-punk NWOBHM
Cultural origins	Early 1980s England and Sweden
Typical instruments	Vocals - Electric guitar - Bass - drums
Mainstream popularity	Underground
Derivative forms	Crust punk Thrashcore

D-beat (also known as Discore and käng, in Sweden) is a style of hardcore punk developed in the early 1980s by imitators of Discharge, for whom the genre is named. Discharge may have themselves inherited the beat from Motörhead. The first such group was The Varukers.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. 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, Mob 47, Driller Killer, and Wolfbrigade. Totalitär, Avskum, Skitsystem, and Disfear are contemporary Swedish D-beat groups. Other D-beat groups include Disclose, from Japan; Crucifix and Final Conflict, from the U.S.; Ratos de Porão, from Brazil; and MG15, from Spain.

Swedish D-beat

The first Swedish D-beat song is "Marquee," by Rude Kids, from Stockholm, recorded in 1979.They were followed by KSMB (Slemmig Torsk), Missbrukarna, and more famously, Anti Cimex.Anti Cimex's second 7" EP, Raped Ass, has been described as "one of the rawest and most violent hardcore releases ever." Other such groups included Shitlickers, Moderat Likvidation, Mob 47, and Asocial. Mob 47 is credited with mixing Discharge's style with American hardcore punk.Many of these later groups began to practice the crust punk style. 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.
The name "D-beat" refers to a specific drumbeat, associated with 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?.

Drum beat

Three versions of D-beat drum tabs:
First

H:|x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-:||

S:|--o---o---o---o-:||

K:|o---oo--o---oo--:||

   1 & 2 & 3 & 4 &            S=snare K=kick  H=hihat

Second

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

Third (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

Legacy

Discharge and other D-beat bands influenced the thrash metal bands of the mid-1980s (particularly Metallica, Anthrax and Sepultura). However, D-beat's influence on the genre was not as pervasive as the American hardcore punk of the time. The popular punk band Rancid also borrowed from D-beat, particularly on their fifth album, released in 2000 at the height of the D-beat revival.
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.

Bibliography

• Ekeroth, Daniel (2008). Swedish Death Metal. Bazillion Points Books.
• Glasper, Ian (2004). Burning Britain: The History of UK Punk 1980-1984. Cherry Red Books.
• Jandreus, Peter (2008). The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk 1977-1987. Stockholm: Premium Publishing.