Album Review: Drain - '... Is Your Friend'
Longstanding hardcore machines Drain add banger after banger to their repertoire in new album “....Is Your Friend”.
Following vast acclaim across the hardcore scene and beyond for their previous 2 albums, Drain have broken down the doors again and share their 3rd album “... Is Your Friend”. Having been around for over a decade now, the Santa Cruz native band have made a sturdy name for themselves among fans and fellow artists in the scene, touring with the likes of Sunami and Scowl and even branching out past the genre lines and crossing over into a pop-punk focused tour with Neck Deep. Bringing this scene-agnostic and lover of all approach into their music has been a mainstay for DRAIN and the building of their audience, as they have always welcomed every fan with open arms and nasty riffs. The release of this album shows Drain growing yet again, consistently passing what the world thought they were capable of and gracing the world with another 10 screamers to spin kick your best friends to.
Opening on an immediate high note with “Stealing Happiness From Tomorrow”, it’s immediately clear that this album is not here to mess around. While it’s bouncy and lively, it’s also emphatic, creating a rush of energy and piercing through the outer layer with sharp and tactically brilliant riffs and divebombs. “Stealing Happiness From Tomorrow” is a warning of the forthcoming; it lets the audience in on what they’re in for, and if their previous projects are anything to go by, you’re going to need to fasten your seatbelts.
I stand by my previous statement, seatbelts are definitely required for the opening portion of this album. We are immediately blitzed with one of the most high-tempo and electrifying hardcore tracks I’ve experienced in recent memory, chopping between savage, well-layered power chord scales and menacingly speedy high fret licks. The guitar playing on “Living In A Memory” is nothing short of excellent. This is then immediately hunted down by the feature single “Scared Of Everything And Nothing”. This track’s crisp and to-the-point drumming hits the nail on the head in terms of what hardcore drumming should sound like. Tim Flegal puts on a career performance on this album, and the drumming on this track is just one of many standouts. Another track I would like to highlight is “Loudest In The Room”. This song is the epitome of what this band stand to become, poised, synchronised, raw and relentless. The synchronicity behind every note in this song is second to none. DRAIN use this effortless teamwork to create a scathing and consistent track. From Cody Chavez’s guitar and bass riffs creating a tonal clash that truly amplifies everything else in the track to Sammy Ciaramitaros’ vocals pairing up perfectly with the drums to create more emphasis, this track blends perfectly and is exactly what I love to see from any hardcore band.
The other 2 singles on this feature-length album include “Who’s Having Fun?” and “Nights Like These”. First up in the tracklist is ”Nights Like These”, this track seamlessly kicks off the closing chapter of the album with light speed slides and rapid fire snare blasts that carry an immense energy throughout, blitzing straight through the majority of its 1 minute 46 second runtime before hitting the brakes and giving you whiplash for a short and sweet breakdown of all breakdowns. This is immediately followed by “Who’s having Fun?”. this track is an outlier for this album as it mixes both the speed and ferocity of the usual tracks, with a gorgeous low pitch singing voice, this change is a very welcome addition and shows the sheer range that this band posses, the ability to switch vocals styles that quickly and competently is otherworldy nad really makes this track a brilliant song to show both fresh hardcore fans and long time genre diehards.
The album closes out on another 2 absolute bangers to truly seal the deal; both “Darkest Days” and “Until Next Time” are absolute barnstormers. Both tracks clock in at around 3 minutes and bring the pace down to a single, consistent trudge of brutality. This dynamic switch in pacing, while still keeping the energy high, speaks to the sheer degree of talent that the California 3-piece have been able to tap into in this album. “Darkest Days” acts as essentially one long breakdown, stripping the tech back a touch to allow for the feel and the pacing of the track to really shine. This adds a true layer of beauty that is only amplified by the divebombs that drop into the track every so often. As the curtains close on this fantastic hardcore experience, we are treated to one final goodbye in the form of “Until Next Time”. This one brings the pace back up a little and shows off a lot. It’s the biggest display of talent on the album for every member, from drawn-out vocals and changing paces to instrumental pauses that are capitalised on without hesitation. This is also a standout for the guitar on this album as it piles speedy riffs, slamming chords and hail mary dive bombs into the fold to create one of the greatest closing tracks I’ve heard in a very long time.
DRAIN completely blew me out of the water with “...Is Your Friend” and really makes a strong case for album of the year. It’s been a great year for hardcore, and I’m so glad that despite titans like Turnstile and SPEED releasing an album and an EP, respectively. The genre has not been flooded or diluted in the slightest. DRAIN will continue to shock the world, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them when they cross the pond.
Words by Josh Pook
