D-beat

D-beat (also known as Discore, kängpunk, Discrust,[1] and crust-beat[2]) is a style of hardcore punk, developed in the early 1980s by imitators of Discharge, after whom the genre is named, as well as a drum beat characteristic of this subgenre.

The style was particularly popular in Sweden, and developed there by groups such as Crude SS, Anti Cimex, Mob 47, and Driller Killer.

Other D-beat groups include Doom and the Varukers from the UK; Disclose from Japan; Crucifix and Final Conflict from the U.S.; Ratos de Porão from Brazil; and MG15 from Spain.

Discharge formed in 1977 in Stoke-on-Trent, England, initially playing a basic variety of street punk inspired by the Sex Pistols and The Clash.

[3] At this time Terry "Tez" Roberts of Discharge developed their characteristic drum beat, for which the D-beat subgenre is named.

The heaviest of Swedish crust bands was Crude SS[13] In England, a second style of anarcho-punk similar to D-beat developed in the mid-1980s.

Punk journalist Felix von Havoc contends that Doom, Excrement of War, Electro Hippies and Extreme Noise Terror were among the first bands to have the traditional UK "crust" sound.

As vocalist Julian "Leggo" Kilsby comments: "We were very much a part of the anarcho scene, to start with, very politically motivated... all the way through the band's existence, really, although it got less obvious as time went by.

But I never really liked the straightforward 'War is bad...' lyrics that were so prevalent at the time, so as my writing skills improved I wanted to add more depth to our lyrics and make them more metaphorical; I'd always been into horror films, so that started to manifest itself in the imagery I was using..."[21] Crust punk groups took some influence from the early black metal of Venom and Celtic Frost.

As Daniel Ekeroth wrote in 2008 :"In a very ironic paradox, black metal and crust punk have recently started to embrace one another.

Members of Darkthrone and Satyricon have lately claimed that they love punk, while among crusties, black metal is the latest fashion.

The group emerged from the Lower East Side squat scene and New York hardcore,[26] living with Roger Miret of Agnostic Front.

[16] However, Pete Hurley, the guitarist for the group, declared that he had no interest in being remembered as a pioneer of this style: "'grindcore' was a legendarily stupid term coined by a hyperactive kid from the West Midlands, and it had nothing to do with us whatsoever.

[33] In this period, the ethos of crust punk became particularly codified, with vegetarianism, feminism, and sometimes straight edge being prescribed by many of the figures in the scene.

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.

Crust punk songs are often about nuclear war, militarism, animal rights, police, personal grievances, oppressive states and fascism.

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.