Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing

Day Eleven. When I was in my first band, we covered Iron Maiden's "Aces High". The second band I was in covered "The Nightmare Continues". This song was no problem because every single Discharge song is literally just two riffs, a couple of chanted phrases, and one sloppy guitar solo. This is all to the back drop of an utterly simplistic rhythm called the "D-beat". The "D" is for Discharge. And there's literally a sub-genre of hardcore punk dedicated to ripping off Discharge.That's how influential these UK lads are.

It's hard to explain to someone how such mindlessly simple music can be so good. Better than even your phrygian modes over 7/16 polyrythm users. Objectively, this is one of the worst albums ever made. What makes Discharge better than everyone lies in the execution of these songs.

And damn. That execution is legendary. They performed with such tremendous urgency. The violence of the music would inspire literally every sub-genre of music: from hardcore, to thrash, to black and deathmetal, and grindcore. It's hard not to listen to Darkthrone's stripped down approach on Transylvanian Hunger and think that they just copied Discharge. It's hard not to listen to the evolution of Slayer from a heavy Judas Priest outfit, to a maximum velocity thrash attack and think it was done with huge doses of Discharge. The maximum impact in just a few seconds is the bread and butter of every grindcore band thanks to Discharge. Everything can be traced to Discharge.

I also truly believe the lyrics are some of the best lyrics ever written. They're literally only three lines per song. But somehow, they manage to paint a vivid and terrifying picture of war, violence, nuclear annihilation, and human corruption in a way that would simply be impossible with eloquent poetry.

Here are the lyrics to A Hell On Earth:

"A glaring light, an unnatural tremor.
Suffocating heat, suffocating heat.

A hell on Earth, A hell on Earth.

Men, women, and children groaning in agony
From the intolerable pain of their burns."

That's the longest song on the album. And it still manages to paint a vivid and horrifying picture of nuclear annihilation. Discharge is truly the poet that can say the most with only a few words (and riffs).

The only thing better than "Hear Nothing, See Nothing, Say Nothing" is the "Why?" EP from the very same band.

BTW, for my fellow Proud Boys, Gavin McInnes has a denim vest with a patch of this album cover sewn onto it.

BUY OR DIE!