Formed in 1977, Discharge were one of the leaders of U.K. punk's second wave. Fast and ferocious, with anarchist/pacifist songs and buzzsaw guitars, their early-'80s releases regularly scored U.K. indie chart hits and occasionally ventured onto the regular charts, too. Later, the five-piece pursued a heavy metal direction with their music. Their uncompromisingly Spartan sound has been enormously influential on punk and metal, with their trademark "D-beat" giving rise to a sub-genre in its own right.