Discharge are an English hardcore punk band formed in 1977 in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire. The band is known for influencing several sub-genres of extreme music and their songs have been covered by many notable artists in heavy metal and other genres. The musical sub-genre of D-beat is named after Discharge and the band's distinctive drumbeat.

The band is characterized by a minimalistic approach to music and lyrics, using a heavy, distorted, and grinding guitar-driven sound and raw, shouted vocals similar to a political speech, with lyrics on anarchist and pacifist themes, over intense drone-like rhythms. The band's sound has been called a "grave-black aural acid assault." Discharge "paved the way for an astounding array of politically motivated, musically intense and deeply confrontational bands" and displayed a "revolutionary/activist" political attitude that moved British hardcore punk away from its pub rock origins and towards a "dangerous and provocative" or anti-establishment leftist territory.

Discharge influenced various extreme metal styles such as thrash metal, black metal, crust punk and grindcore. The band's "brutal, extremist approach" and "extreme thrash noise" style of playing eventually led to the thrash genre. "Discharge's influence on heavy metal is incalculable and metal superstars such as Metallica, Anthrax, Machine Head, Sepultura, Soulfly, Prong and Arch Enemy have covered Discharge's songs in tribute." Discharge is a major influence on at least two generations of metal.

Discharge was formed in 1977 in Stoke-on-Trent by Terence "Tezz" Roberts (vocals) and Royston "Rainy" Wainwright (guitar). They soon recruited Roberts's younger brother Anthony "Bones" Roberts on lead guitar, Nigel Bamford on bass, and Anthony "Akko" Axon (sometimes known as "Hacko") on drums. The musical style of the band was initially influenced by 1977-era punk bands such as the Sex Pistols, the Damned, and the Clash. Engaging Tanya Rich as their manager, the band recorded their first demo and began touring in support of bands such as The Ruts, The Clash, and The Damned.

Axon left later that year, followed by Bamford, and the band recruited their roadie Kelvin "Cal" Morris as vocalist, moving Tezz Roberts to drums and Wainwright to bass. With Morris's addition, the group abandoned their previous Sex Pistols-influenced material and developed a retooled sound. Anthony Roberts played guitar with a heavy, distorted and grinding style and Morris shouted or screamed vocals without melody. The bassist played with an "immense gurgling over-driven" bass tone. The tempo of the band's songs also steadily increased over the next year or so.

The new, harder-edged style also tended to use much darker, more nihilistic and violent lyrics, focusing on anarchist and pacifist themes while emphasizing the grisly effects of nuclear warfare and the social ills caused by capitalism. Like Crass, Discharge supported anarchism and displayed the anarchist symbol. The band also expressed its political and social themes in its albums' artwork, which depicted the horrors of war using an influential black-and-white photography style. One of the notable images is the "Impaled Dove" artwork from a 1930s John Heartfield anti-war poster, which depicts a dove impaled on a bayonet. The first gig with this new line-up and new sound was at Northwood Parish Hall. Among the audience was local record shop owner Mike Stone, who ran the Clay Records punk record label.

In 1980, Discharge signed with Clay Records and recorded their first single "Realities of War" in February 1980, which made the UK Indie Chart after being played on BBC1 DJ John Peel's show, peaking at number 5 and spending 44 weeks in the chart. The band also performed their first shows outside of Stoke-on-Trent in 1980, playing in Leicester, Preston and Glasgow. After two further EP releases in that same year, founding member Tezz Roberts departed, to be replaced by Dave "Bambi" Ellesmere (formerly of The Insane) before the Why EP was recorded. Ellesmere did not stay long and the band replaced him with Garry Maloney of The Varukers on drums. Why gave the band their first UK indie number one. Why had cover photos showing the corpses of dead civilians. The song "Visions of War" had an "unrepentantly angry and punishing attack" and it became a signature song for the group. The songs "Maimed and Slaughtered", "Does This System Work?", and "Mania for Conquest" set out the song and sound template for crust punk bands. At the same time, the record showed that it was possible for a hardcore band to incorporate the sonic power of "heavy metal without sacrificing ideology or anger".

The Punknews.org reviewer argues that Why "...revolutionized everything...[paving the] way for the atonal shredding of hardcore punk, thrash, death metal, and grind, but also the dead-serious political ideals and brutal backing of crust hardcore". Ian Glasper described the EP as "one of the most potent anti-war records ever made". Tom G. Warrior of Celtic Frost credited Discharge as "a revolution, much like Venom", saying, "When I heard the first two Discharge records, I was blown away. I was just starting to play an instrument and I had no idea you could go so far. And to me, they were unlike other punk bands--they sounded more like metal."