Good Lord, have I had some awkward conversations that have suddenly ended with me saying "I really like Discharge". Despite the social gracelessness of the name, Discharge are awesome. Playing hardcore as early as 1977, Discharge's songs were blasts of aggression focusing on anarchist themes. Their first album, Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing, consisted mostly of songs under two minutes long each with a simple message. With song titles including 'Protest and Survive', 'Free Speech for the Dumb', and of course, 'Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing', the message isn't difficult to decode. Despite being a hardcore punk band, Discharge are often attributed as forerunners in thrash and black metal. On closer inspection this is pretty clearly discernable - the guitar work often breaks into metal-style licks, and on later albums the band moved from the punk chug to beats with a more metal feel. As well as being a great influence on the punk scene, Discharge have also been praised and tributed by bands such as Machine Head and Metallica, cementing them as one of the crossover greats.
