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D-beat (also known as Discore, kängpunk, Discrust, and crust-beat) 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. D-beat is known for its "grinding, distorted and brutally political" sound.McPadden, Mike. If You Like Metallica...: Here Are Over 200 Bands, CDs, Movies, and Other Oddities That You Will Love. Backbeat Books, 2012. Section on "Discharge". Discharge may have themselves inherited the beat from Motörhead and the Buzzcocks. D-beat is closely associated with crust punk, which is a heavier, more complex variation. 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. While the style initially developed in the early 1980s, a number of new groups working within the subgenre emerged in the mid-1990s. These include the Swedish groups Wolfbrigade, Totalitär, Avskum, Skitsystem, and Disfear.
D-beat was initially known as " kängpunk" ("boot punk") in Sweden.Jandreus, Peter (2008). The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk 1977–1987, p. 11. Stockholm: Premium Publishing. The first Swedish D-beat song is "Marquee," by Rude Kids, from Stockholm, recorded in 1979.Ekeroth, p. 18. They were followed by KSMB (En Slemmig Torsk), Missbrukarna, and more famously, Anti Cimex.Ekeroth, p. 19. Anti Cimex's second 7-inch EP, Raped Ass, has been described as "one of the rawest and most violent hardcore releases ever." Other such groups included Moderat Likvidation, Asocial,Ekeroth, p. 20-22 and most prominently Mob 47.Jandreus, p. 143. Mob 47, also from Stockholm, was known as the fastest of the kängpunk groups. The group also blended Discharge's style with American hardcore punk, diversifying the style. The heaviest of Swedish crust bands was Crude SS"In Grind We Crust," Terrorizer #181, March 2009, p. 51.
Amebix's Arise LP and Antisect's Out from the Void single, both released in 1985, offer a template for the subgenre. In the late 1980s, Doom, from Birmingham, practiced D-beat indebted to Discharge as well as to crust punk. 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. Additional subgenres of this style began to develop. Deviated Instinct, from Norwich, created "stenchcore", bringing "both the look and sound – dirty and metallic, respectively – to their natural conclusion".Glasper 2009, 284 Initially an anarcho-punk group, they began to take increasing influence from metal. 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..."Glasper 2009, 286
Crust punk groups took some influence from the early black metal of Venom and Celtic Frost. Similarly, Bathory was initially inspired by crust punk as well as metal.Ekeroth, p. 27. Crust was affected by a second wave of influence in the 1990s, with some bands emphasizing these black metal elements. Iskra are probably the most obvious example of second wave black metal-influenced crust punk; Iskra Interviews . Iskra coined their own phrase "blackened crust" to describe this new style. The Japanese group Gallhammer also blend crust with black metal."Hard of Hearing", Terrorizer no. 171, June 2008, p. 56. In addition, Norwegian band Darkthrone have incorporated crust punk traits in their more recent material. 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. In fact, the latest album by crust punk band Skitsystem sounds very black metal—while the latest black metal opus by Darkthrone sounds very punk! This would have been unimaginable in the early 90s."Ekeroth, p. 258.
American crust punk began in New York City, also in the mid-'80s, with the work of Nausea. The group emerged from the Lower East Side squatting scene and New York hardcore,Init 5, 25 September 2007. [2] Access date: 18 June 2008. living with Roger Miret of Agnostic Front.John John Jesse interview, Hoard magazine, June 2005. Access date: 18 June 2008 The early work of Neurosis, from Oakland, CA, also borrowed from Amebix, and inaugurated crust punk on the West Coast.Adam Louie, Mastodon, Neurosis show review, Prefix magazine, 29 January 2008 [3] Access date: 18 June 2008Anthony Bartkewicz, Decibel magazine No. 31, May 2007. [4] Access date: 18 June 2008 Disrupt (Boston),Nick Mangel, Disrupt LP review, Maximum Rock'n'Roll #301, June 2008, record reviews section. Antischism (South Carolina), and Destroy! (Minneapolis) were also significant U.S. crust groups.
Extreme Noise Terror is credited with developing this style into grindcore. 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 Mick Harris, and it had nothing to do with us whatsoever. ENT were, are, and – I suspect – always will be a hardcore punk band... not a grindcore band, a stenchcore band, a trampcore band, or any other sub-sub-sub-core genre-defining term you can come up with."Glasper 2009, 279
Vocals in crust punk are often shrieked or shouted, and may be shared between two or more vocalists. The lyrical content of crust punk tends to be bleak and nihilistic, yet politically engaged. Crust punk songs are often about nuclear war, militarism, animal rights, police, personal grievances, oppressive states and fascism. Amebix were also interested in various forms of mysticism and Gnosticism. Malcolm "Scruff" Lewty, guitarist and vocalist of Hellbastard, describes the distinction between metal and crust punk lyrics:
Three versions of D-beat drum tabs:
First () (like early Anti Cimex and Discharge):
Second — Verse () and chorus () (like Avskum):
Third (Thrash/speed metal beat) ( or ):
1980s
In England, a second style of anarcho-punk similar to D-beat developed in the mid-1980s. This style borrowed from the Swedish kängpunk groups as well as British anarcho-punk, heavy metal, and post-punk.Glasper 2006. "Amebix." p. 198-201."In Grind We Crust," p. 46. The term "crust" was coined by Hellbastard on their 1986 Ripper Crust demo. As punk historian Ian Glasper puts it: " Rippercrust is widely regarded as the first time the word 'crust' was used in the punk context, and hence the specific starting point of the whole crustcore genre, although some would attribute that accolade to the likes of Disorder, Chaos UK, and Amebix several years earlier." Malcolm "Scruff" Lewty, vocalist and guitarist of Hellbastard, commented, "A lot of people say we started the crust-punk genre, but whatever. If they wanna say that, I don't mind, but I'm certainly no Malcolm McLaren, saying I invented something I didn't."Glasper 2009, 185 AmebixPeter Jandreus, The Encyclopedia of Swedish Punk 1977–1987, Stockholm: Premium Publishing, 2008, p. 11. and Antisect are often located as the originators of crust punk.
1990s
An important American crust punk band was Aus-Rotten" Crust-punks Behind Enemy Lines release One Nation Under The Iron Fist of God from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Crust punk also flourished in Minneapolis, shepherded by the Profane Existence label."In Grind We Crust," p. 51. 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. The powerviolence scene associated with Slap-a-Ham Records was in close proximity to crust punk, particularly in the case of Man Is the Bastard and Dropdead."Powerviolence: The Dysfunctional Family of Bllleeeeaaauuurrrgghhh!!." Terrorizer no. 172. July 2008. p. 36-37. Crust was also prominent in the American South, where Prank Records and CrimethInc. acted as focal points of the scene. The most well-known representative of Southern crust was His Hero Is Gone.Andrew Childers, "Kick in the South: A Look Back at Prank Records and the Southern Crust Scene." 5 April 2008. [6] Access date: 21 June 2008
Many Swedish groups of the 1990s began to play a combination of D-beat with crust punk.Ekeroth, p. 23. These bands, including Driller Killer,Jandreus, p. 20-21. Totalitär, Skitsystem, Wolfbrigade, and Disfear,Kevin Stewart-Panko, "Disfear + Trap Them + The Endless Blockade", Terrorizer #172, July 2008, p. 85. remain some of the most well-known D-beat bands, although their sound has cleaved closely to developments in death metal.Ekeroth, p. 107, 266.
Characteristics
Vocals and lyrics
The vocal content of D-beat tends towards shouted slogans. The style is distinguished from its predecessors by its minimal lyrical content and greater proximity to heavy metal. D-beat bands typically have anti-war, anarchist messages and closely follow the bleak nuclear war imagery of 1980s anarcho-punk bands. 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."
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, 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.
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
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
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
See also
Sources
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