D-beat

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

the 'D-Beat' in musical notation  Play (help·info).

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]

Swedish D-beat

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]

Drum beat

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  Play (help·info) (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  Play (help·info) & Chorus  Play (help·info) (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  Play (help·info)):

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

Legacy

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.

See also

• Drum beat
• Blast beat
• Breakbeat
• Category:Crust and d-beat groups

References

• Ekeroth, Daniel (2008). Swedish Death Metal. Bazillion Points Books. ISBN 978-0-9796163-1-0
• Glasper, Ian (2009). Trapped in a Scene: UK Hardcore 1985-1989. Cherry Red Books. ISBN 9781901447613

1. ^ ^{a b} "The Varukers were the original Discore band, the first and best of the hardcore punk acts to take the simple, yet devastatingly effective formula laid down by Discharge and play it as fast, hard, heavy as they could." quoted in Glasper (2004), p. 65.
2. ^ ^{a b} Jandreus, Peter (2008). The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk 1977-1987, p. 11. Stockholm: Premium Publishing.
3. ^ ^{a b} "I just wanna be remembered for coming up with that f-ckin' D-beat in the first place! And inspiring all those f-ckin' great Discore bands around the world!" - Terry "Tez" Roberts quoted in Glasper, Ian (2004), p.175.
4. ^ Glasper, Ian (2004). Burning Britain: The History of UK Punk 1980-1984, p. 175. Cherry Red Books.
5. ^ ^{a b c} Ekeroth, Daniel (2008). Swedish Death Metal, p. 19. Bazillion Points Books.
6. ^ ^{a b c} Jandreus, p. 20-21.
7. ^ Jandreus, p. 143.
8. ^ Kevin Stewart-Panko, "Disfear + Trap Them + The Endless Blockade", Terrorizer #172, July 2008, p. 85.
9. ^ Glasper 2009, 26
10. ^ Glasper 2009, 26
11. ^ [1]
12. ^ Ekeroth, p. 18.
13. ^ Ekeroth, p. 20-22.
14. ^ "In Grind We Crust," Terrorizer #181, March 2009, p. 51.
15. ^ Ekeroth, p. 23.
16. ^ Ekeroth, p. 107, 266.