Review Summary: "There is no real music and I'm just shoutin and screamin."
Discharge, as the internet has informed me, are a British hardcore-punk band formed in 1977 an the innovators of the style known as
D-beat.
Realities of War being the first EP and recorded release for the band was created sometime in 1980. Being a fan of a diverse range of punk styles it’s actually no surprise this crossed my music hungry eyes by accident, a surprise of the internet. Now as I have discovered surprises of the internet are often mixed bags and when it comes to music beauty is in the ears of the beholder.
Opening with the title track a soft drum fill breaks way for a flurry of crunchy power chords. The vocals, while nothing you haven’t heard before, retain a sincere and energetic quality essential in punk music. They’re raw, they’re harsh and they’re in your face, everything about them blaring
punk. Standard shouting and interesting “roars” are thrown around to create for a pleasing, if not rather basic experience.
They Declare It is quite the shouting/rawwr affair and while the drums stand out nicely the rest falls victim to poor production quality. The guitar work, minus the quick solos thrown around, basically sounds like its being hammered on repeatedly without much thought. The bass work is quite honestly unheard of as the drumming takes over as the most audible and consistent instrument in the mix.
The second to last track,
After the Gig is one of anarchism and just not giving a f***. While the music certainly remains punk at all times the squeaky guitar progression towards the middle of the song has a very “metal” vibe enshrouding it. The lyrics do speak of political issues but not in an overpowering way, or at least not overpowering by today’s standards.
Society's Victim makes use of anti political lines like,
”that's your concern and I don't vote” but sending a glaring message never seems to be the focus of the music. What does seem to be the focus of the song, as with the three others, is assaulting the listener with frantic drumming and a quick swooping guitar solo. While a fun listen, some who will want to check this out might be let down about how primitive the music feels at times. This should be viewed more as a stylistic factor but being that this was released in 1980 it’s apparent that time certainly has a way with things.
So that, to sum it up quickly, is the
Realities of War EP. The songs are short, raw and suffer from production values I’m sure every other early punk band now looks back upon. The highlight would have to be a tossup between the overall drumming and the few oddball guitar solos tossed around. For those of you amused with a variety of punk music this is worth a listen, maybe not a buy but a listen. For those of you who don’t necessarily like the more straightforward type of punk then there really isn’t a good reason to check it out. If you do or if you don’t that’s up to you but all in all this is pretty good.
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