Drain is an American

hardcore punk Hardcore punk (commonly abbreviated to hardcore or hXc) is a punk rock music genre#subtypes, subgenre and subculture that originated in the late 1970s. It is generally faster, harder, and more aggressive than other forms of punk rock. Its roots ...

band formed in

Santa Cruz, California Santa Cruz (Spanish language, Spanish for "Holy Cross") is the largest city and the county seat of Santa Cruz County, California, Santa Cruz County, in Northern California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city population ...

in 2014. Beginning without a set musical style, the 2015 hiring of vocalist Sammy Ciaramitaro and bassist-turned-guitarist Cody Chavez led the band to embrace a

crossover thrash Crossover thrash (often abbreviated to crossover) is a fusion genre of thrash metal and hardcore punk. The genre emerged in the mid-1980s, when hardcore punk bands, such as Suicidal Tendencies, Cryptic Slaughter, Corrosion of Conformity and Dir ...

sound. They have released two demos, three EPs and two full length albums. The ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' credited Drain as a driving force of American hardcore's "renaissance" in the early 2020s.

History

Drain was formed in 2014, by drummer Tim Flegal and a number of other students at the

University of California, Santa Cruz The University of California, Santa Cruz (UC Santa Cruz or UCSC) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Cruz, California, United States. It is one of the ten campuses in the University of C ...

who played a variety of different music styles. This lineup had fractured by 2015, leading to Sammy Ciaramitaro and Cody Chavez joining the band on vocals and bass, respectively. This introduction led to the band's sound becoming increasingly indebted to

. Soon after, Chavez instead became the band's guitarist. In 2016, they released their debut EP ''Over Thinking'', which was followed the next year by the ''Time Enough at Last'' EP. The band performed at Sound and Fury festival 2019, which caught the attention of

Revelation Records Revelation Records is an independent record label focusing originally and primarily on hardcore punk. The label is known for releases by bands such as Youth of Today, Warzone, Sick of It All, Quicksand, Side By Side, Chain of Strength, Sh ...

, who soon signed the band. On February 10, 2020 they announced their debut full-length album ''California Cursed'', and released the single "Sick One". The album was subsequently released on April 10, 2020. On June 19, 2021, the band performed at a guerrilla-style show which around 2000 people attended in San Jose alongside

Sunami A tsunami ( ; from , ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and underwater explosions (including detonations, la ...

Gulch A gulch is a deep V-shaped valley formed by erosion. It may contain a small stream or dry creek bed and is usually larger in size than a gully. Sudden intense rainfall upstream may produce flash floods in the bed of the gulch. In eastern Can ...

, Scowl,

Xibalba (), roughly translated as "place of fright", is the name of the underworld (in ) in Maya mythology, ruled by the Maya death gods and their helpers. In 16th-century Verapaz, the entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a cave in the ...

and Maya Over Eyes. On August 25, 2021, they released the single "Watch You Burn". At the beginning of 2023, they toured Australia supporting Comeback Kid. On February 7, 2023, they announced the release of their second album '' Living Proof'' and released the single "Evil Finds Light". The following day the released a music video for the single. From May 25 to June 24, they headlined a US tour. Between August 3 and 19, they headlined a European tour. In June 2025, Drain announced a new album, ''...Is Your Friend,'' set to release on 7 November 2025.

Musical style

Critics have categorized Drain's music as

and

metalcore Metalcore is a broadly defined fusion genre combining elements of extreme metal and hardcore punk, originating in the 1990s United States and becoming popular in the 2000s. Metalcore typically has aggressive verses and melodic choruses, combined ...

; they frequently blend elements of

punk rock Punk rock (also known as simply punk) is a rock music genre that emerged in the mid-1970s. Rooted in 1950s rock and roll and 1960s garage rock, punk bands rejected the corporate nature of mainstream 1970s rock music. They typically produced sh ...

and

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...

. Tom Breiham of ''

Stereogum ''Stereogum'' is a daily Internet publication that focuses on music news, reviews, interviews, and commentary. The site was created in January 2002 by Scott Lapatine. ''Stereogum'' was one of the first MP3 blogs and has received several awar ...

'' described their style as "old-school California fight music, with a generous whiff of ’80s thrash-metal". ''

Exclaim! ''Exclaim!'' is a Canadian music and entertainment publisher based in Toronto, which features coverage of new music across all genres with a special focus on Canadian and emerging artists. The monthly ''Exclaim!'' print magazine publishes seven ...

'' writer Connor Atkinson, meanwhile, opined that "the band's sound is both old and new—the tough street grit of

New York hardcore New York hardcore (also known as NYHC) is both the hardcore punk music created in New York City and the subculture and lifestyle (sociology), lifestyle associated with that music. The scene established many aspects that are fixtures of hardcore ...

paired with the tasteful gloss of '80s thrash metal". ''

Bandcamp Daily Bandcamp is an American online music distribution platform founded in 2008 by Oddpost co-founder Ethan Diamond and programmers Shawn Grunberger, Joe Holt and Neal Tucker, with an office and record store in Oakland, California. Acquired by Epi ...

'' writer David Anthony deemed the band "surf-thrash". The band have cited several 1980s thrash acts as influences: Dark Angel,

Exhorder Exhorder is an American heavy metal music, heavy metal band from New Orleans, Louisiana, New Orleans, Louisiana. They are considered progenitors of the groove (music), groove-oriented Thrash metal, thrash sound later made famous by bands such as ...

Slayer Slayer is an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California, formed in 1981 by guitarists Jeff Hanneman and Kerry King, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style made them ...

Vio-lence Vio-lence is an American thrash metal band formed in 1985 in the San Francisco Bay Area. Throughout its career, they have released demo tapes, three EPs and three studio albums. Vio-lence is best-known for their association with the 1980s Bay ...

and

Testament A testament is a document that the author has sworn to be true. In law it usually means last will and testament. Testament or The Testament can also refer to: Books * ''Testament'' (comic book), a 2005 comic book * ''Testament'', a thriller no ...

. Other influences include California hardcore groups such as Black Flag and

Blast Blast or The Blast may refer to: *Explosion, a rapid increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner *Detonation, an exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front *A planned explosion in a mine, ...

. Drain embraces a more positive and upbeat image than many of their hardcore contemporaries, with ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British music webzine and quarterly magazine that primarily covers rock, punk and heavy metal music. Since 2017, the magazine has been published by Wasted Talent Ltd (the same company that owns electronic music publication ...

'' attributing this to vocalist Sammy Ciaramitaro's "non-threatening look and... Golden Retriever energy".

Members

2023 Pol’and’Rock - Drain (22).jpg, Tim Flegal 2023 Pol’and’Rock - Drain (07).jpg, Sammy Ciaramitaro 2023 Pol’and’Rock - Drain (31).jpg, Cody Chavez *Tim Flegal – drums (2014–present) *Sammy Ciaramitaro – vocals (2015–present) *Cody Chavez – guitars (2016–present), bass (2016) Former *Aric Gibson – bass (2014–2016) *Patrick Delaney – guitars (2014–2016) *Josh Nunes – guitars (2014–2016) *Parker McClellan – guitars (2016–2017) *Justin Rhode – bass (2016–2020) *Mike "Dirt" Durrett – bass (2020–2022) *AJ Hoenings – bass (2022) *Sam Jameson – bass (2023–2025) Timeline

Discography

Albums *'' California Cursed'' (2020) *'' Living Proof'' (2023) *''...Is Your Friend'' (2025) EPs *''Over Thinking'' (2016) *''Time Enough at Last'' (2017) *''Watch You Burn'' (2021) Demos *''Demo '15'' (2015) *''Swan Songs'' (2015) Singles * ''Watch You Burn'' (2021)

References

{{Authority control 2014 establishments in California Crossover thrash groups Hardcore punk groups from California Musical groups established in 2014 Epitaph Records artists Revelation Records artists