When Thatcher took over England at the end of 1979, it would be the start of a new era- an era where the world was at its peak in terms of cold war, paranoia of Nuclear armaments and war. By now, punk was beginning to take more serious forms than some of the posers who had infiltrated the mainstream in the 70's, from them came bands obsessed with the problems Thatcherite England, including Crass, the Exploited, Conflict, and Discharge. The music was faster, harder, and more brittle than those who had preceded them, yet it was a mile away from the pretentions of Oi; if the 4-skins and Business were seen as the right wing faction of the punk movement, these bands were the communist left wingers (although the Exploited were somewhere in between). Of these bands, Crass and conflict were the hardest and most dedicated workers, and Discharge were the military wing who kept things straight, simple, and hit with a bang. Discharge sounded like no other band before them because they were extremely heavy and fast- no surprise that Grindcore legends such as Napalm death and Carcass have named them as a prime influence in their music. Their music was seen By some as unlistenable- look at Oi championer and sounds editor Garry Bushell; "Umpteen versions of the same pneumatic drill..awful…no tunes, no talent, no fun…Dull" But people missed the point entirely in thinking that way: their point was to shock people without subtlety; the music was kept to its purest form, in that there was no concession to melody, tune or proper song structure. Not only was their music daunting, but their image was daunting- Just look at the Record covers and sleeves such as "WHY", "Hear nothing see nothing say nothing" and "Never again"and the following images will be in your eyes: Dead civilians, bombed out cities, men with Exposed brains, A sword through a dove (which was a World war 2 peace symbol) all in monochrome vision (Black and White photography). All this and Cal's demonic image (Best portrayed on the front of the "Fight back" EP sleeve) made Discharge a force to be reckoned with. Alas, all good things come to an end, and Discharge found development difficult, resorting to heavy metal (an easy way out for many punks). But their influence cannot be understated in many forms of extreme music today.

There are many who argue that Discharge were the most influential third wave punk band; unquestionably, there since have been a flux of bands following their first demise that have tried to emulate their thrashy, roaring protest. Grindcore, Death/thrash metal and crust punk being the most obvious genres to descend from their Caustic wall of noise. The early line up was fluid, with two brothers Terry "Tez" Roberts (Drums), Tony "Bones" Roberts (Guitar), and Roy "Rainy" Wainwright and Kelvin "Cal" Morris (vocals) being the most solid members. After Cal joined, all previous material was scrapped. Mike Stone from clay records signed them after claiming he got off on their intensity. Their Debut single "Realities of war" was released in march 1980, after allegedly taking only four hours in the studio! Coupled with the fact that Stone had to distribute the records from the back of his car, it was remarkable that the single forced its way into the top ten of the indie charts in "sounds". More EPs followed including "Fight back", and "Decontrol". These singles had all the trademark Discharge Characteristics: Very fast incessant drumming; the same guitar riffs played over and over again creating a tuneless barrage of noise; screaming/shouting that resembled a Seargant on the battlefeild in times of crisis, all resulting in an atmosphere as if it were a nuclear/anti authoritarian protest with chainsaws in the background. Shortly after a Mini LP "Why" (1981), Tez was replaced by Bambi, who in turn lost his position to Garry Maloney. The debut full length LP was released the following year. "Hear nothing see nothing say nothing" (1982) , which managed to get into the top 40 of the national chart. The LP's heavy and murkey production lead some to believe that this was the first record to combine punk and metal to full effect. During this period, the band were approached by an unnamed major label; the band decline as it was seen as frowned upon for bands to sign for majors at that time. lengthy touring across Europe and America followed, before Bones left the band. The "State Violence, State control" single proved to be his last recording with Discharge before forming the more metal orientated Broken Bones. Peter "Pooch" Pyrtle was drafted in as a replacement. By now, the band was moving predominantly towards metal than previous releases, and the progressively thicker sounding production was not helping causes. The next few singles released in 1983 , "Warning", "Price of silence" and "The more i see" were more commercial offerings featuring metallic guitar licks and Cal's vocals actually comprehensible for the first time, although were still decent offerings. A few months later Clay issued a compilation of Non album Singles and EP tracks "Never again" (1984). Some of the tracks were even given a dubious remix, reducing the fidelity of sound quality on some. Pooch would soon leave, and Cal and co employed a few "Friends" to record their next single, "Ignorance". Following more lengthy touring in America, Discharge would remain dormant, finally emerging at the end of 1986 to release the Third full length LP, "Grave new world" (1986). The album proved to be a huge disappointment; Cal decided to take on a new falsetto voice reminiscent of Brain Johnson AC/DC style, and the band generally resembled a mid eighties cock rock metal band. Shortly afterwards, Discharge Folded, and several live albums of varying quality were released at the end of the decade, including "Live at Clay city garden" (1989) which sounded as if the tape recorder had been immersed in water throughout the duration of the concert. The Band reformed for a short period in the early 90's releasing several pointless (and mostly metal) albums "Massacre divine" (1991) "Shooting up the world" (1994). By now, the band had to face competition from many bands they had helped to influence, and Discharge were old dogs who simply could not be taught new ideas as the group faded away from the public eye.

Recently, Receiver records reissued the "WHY" mini LP with all the tracks to the singles released prior to it ("Realities of war", "Fight back," "Decontrol"). Although Discharge are now in a permanent state of limbo now, their legacy still lives on, proven by the fact that people still continue to cover their songs. Its mostly hardcore and metal bands that do the biz, therefore you can't really expect them to get the point. Machine Head covered "The possibility of life's destruction" on a special version of their second album "The more things change", Metallica have covered songs for their "Garage inc" album including "Free speech for the dumb" and "The more I see". Brazilian Metal band Soulfly have recently released a version of "Aint no feeble bastard" on a special version of their eponymous debut. There is even a Discharge tribute band called "Disgust" who have released several discs on Earache records (A metal/hardcore/grindcore label clearly influenced by Discharge)