“Straight up, no one is having more fun than me when we’re up there!” beams DRAIN frontman Sammy Ciaramitaro, whose face is perpetually glued in a grin. For anyone that’s seen the Santa Cruz hardcore firebrands live, there’s no mistaking that fact. Drain isn’t just a good time as Sammy presides over the chaos of stagediving bodies and mic-grabbing frontline; it’s a party—and everyone is invited. (Dolphin shorts and boogie boards are optional but encouraged.) “The vibe of it is, enthusiastic, hectic,” says the vocalist. “Five people deep singing and stagediving, then kids going berserk behind that. It’s a great vibe and I think people pick up on that.” That, in a nutshell is DRAIN. The quartet inject a serious dose of relatability—not to mention catchiness—into hardcore’s penchant for toughness and brutality on their Epitaph debut Living Proof. Ciaramitaro’s desperate, snotty howl rides roughshod over thrash-leaning riffage as rhythms bounce in a big way. If you’re picturing the Pacific Ocean waves that rise and fall along the coastal town, occasionally violently so, you’re not far off.
British metalcore giants Architects announce their awaited new studio album, ‘The Sky, The Earth & All Between,’ will release February 28, 2025 via Epitaph Records. This will be the band's 11th studio album, with “Whiplash” delivering an intense fusion of power and stadium-swaying melody, offering a tantalizing preview of what’s to come from ‘The Sky, The Earth & All Between’ in the New Year. The band revealed the first single from the album, “Seeing Red” last December and second single, “Curse” in April this year. Both songs collectively amassed over 70 million streams to date. Since their last studio album in 2022, the critically acclaimed ‘the classic symptoms of a broken spirit’, the band have continued their stratospheric rise, establishing themselves as one of the most important rock bands to emerge from the UK. They have spent the last 12 months touring extensively, most notably as one of the personally chosen support acts on the Metallica tour as well as appearances at Louder Than Life, AfterShock, Mayhem, Download and a headline slot at Bloodstock Festival. They have also just announced a handful of dates in support of Linkin Park next Summer.