Archive Review: Discharge's Discharge (2002)

It seems like Discharge has been around forever and, in a sense, they have. One of the lesser-known and sorely overlooked of British punk’s “Class of ’77,” Discharge was one of the first outfits to blend hardcore punk and heavy metal, becoming a huge influence on American thrashers like Metallica and Anthrax in the process. This self-titled disc is the band’s first release in six years and the first recording since the original band line-up reformed in 1997.

All of this is well and good, you say, but does the music kick yer arse the way that vintage Discharge did? Every bit as much, chucko! Cal, Bones, Rainy, and Tez cook up thirteen unrelenting, uncompromising punk rock brushfires on Discharge. Bones’ axework shreds the strings like a cat toying with a mouse while Cal gargles with broken glass to achieve the proper guttural vocal tone. Lyrically, the band follows pretty much the same anarcho-leftist tact as fellow Brits Crass or Icons of Filth, backing their words with music that is as subtle as a Molotov cocktail and as potent as a lightning strike. If you want to witness the stuff that punk legends are made of, look no further than Discharge and the aural onslaught the band delivers on Discharge. Not bad for a bunch of geezers, eh? (Sanctuary Records, 2002)

Review originally published by Alt.Culture.Guide™, 2002