Live Review: Drain, Last Wishes, Overpower | The Exchange, Bristol | 08/08/2023
The phrase ‘the next big thing in hardcore’ gets thrown about a lot, especially in recent years. However, tonight shows that Drain are fully deserving of such an accolade.
Overpower
Opening proceedings are a band, who much like their Californian headlining peers, are on the receiving end of being dubbed the next big thing in their scene. Much like how Drain are in the process of conquering global hardcore, Overpower have swiftly become one of the most promising acts within the South West and it’s surrounding areas. Yet for those yet to be acquainted, tonight serves as an uncompromising establishment of their promise.
Filling the room to capacity just 30 minutes after doors, Overpower’s take on crossover thrash is so intense and unrelating it would most likely make the pioneers of the genre – acts such as Discharge, Nuclear Assault and Biohazard – wince in anticipation. In fact, with the pit occupying at least half of the floor, a good portion of the crowd gathered are forced to watch this set, and it’s ensuring choas, outside the room itself. But given the actual violence within the pit, it appears those exiled beyond the room seem somewhat grateful to be out of the literal firing line. As true to their namesake, Overpower are barrage of metallic violence, and as the capacity crowd mill out following their set to obtain much needed air and to nurse bruises, it’s clear that tonight isn’t going to the last time this band performs to a sold out audience.
Score: 8/10
Last Wishes
Whilst Overpower utilise the lacerating edge of thrash in order to amplify their punk and hardcore qualities, Last Wishes are a return to basics. Not that this is a criticism, and nor is it a factor that deters the populace of Bristol tonight. Presenting timeless urbanite hardcore with a classic NYHC edge that contemplates their groove-infused riffs, UKHC yob Last Wishes present muscular hardcore in it’s most unfiltered and unembellished form. What follows is 30 minutes of melees and cartwheels complimented by the gentlest smattering of crowd-killing.
As the band pummel The Exchange with cuts from their 2022 record LP Organised Hate, this set ultimately takes form of the musical equivalent of prolonged battery. There’s no punches pulled either on stage or in the melee before it, with a bruising rendition of ‘Forced Into Sin’ being the catalyst for the first of a few limb-to-face connections this evening. Still, that’s not to say that this set is one of pure hostility. Even within the violence unfolding, a love for unity and for the craft of hardcore is upheld. Much like their recorded material, Last Wishes tonight are hardcore in it’s purest form, animating the inclusivity inherent to the genre even if it does ultimately result in what may be one or two minor concussions.
Score: 8/10
Drain
Considering this very show sold on the same day it went on sale, it wouldn’t be too hyperbolic to say that Drain may be one of the most in-demand names in hardcore right now. After all, their latest record Living Proof essentially allowed the band to jettison from the hide of the hardcore scene and enter the greater alternative metal conscious. And whilst the dismal overcast hanging over Bristol may be a far cry from perpetual summers of their native California, as soon as the band delve into ‘Feel The Pressure, tonight feels akin to a hometown show for Drain. Not just due to the energy from the crowd, but also from the sheer enthusiasm from the act themselves.
Perhaps it may be the sun-kissed Californian blood in their collective veins, but Drain tonight are warm, inviting and present a sunny disposition totally removed from the stereotypically aggressive perception of hardcore. As the band perform beneath the house lights, tearing through ‘Watch You Burn, ‘’FTS (KYS)’, ‘Evil Finds Light’ and other tracks from Living Proof, vocalist Sammy Ciaramitaro essentially greets every stage diver personally, wearing an infectious and authentic grin that only seems to widen the more punters land on the stage. Despite the seemingly endless stream of punters climbing and flying from the stage – and laughter as each punter respectively stacks it in the process – it honestly seems Ciaramitaro is the one having the best time in his room, filling the now humid air with a sense of blanketing positivity and joy that’s both genuine and fully infectious. In fact, this sense of warmth and inclusivity creates a situation that can only be aptly described as being nothing short of wholesome. As he and his bandmates encourage one and all to join them on stage and share the microphones purposefully reserved for fans wishing to partake, the end result is a set that’s joyous, inclusive and one for the fans, by the fans.
But regardless of such an uplifting and cheerful set void of any hostility, Drain’s brand of summertime hardcore still hits like a truck. Dedicated to all those upholding edge, ‘Devils Itch’ generates enough two-stepping to register on the richter scale, a particularly blistering rendition of ‘Sick One’ incites a circle pit so rapid it threatens to turn all those partaking into human gelatine and ‘Hyper Vigilance’ see’s punters forgo all pretence by using their limbs as pit weapons. It’s, quite frankly, carnage on a mass scale. But despite the literal violence unfolding, none of it could even be closing described as belligerent. Instead, as Ciaramitaro bounces around like a human labrador, this set is one hosting pure love. Admittedly, whilst it may be difficult to envision a hardcore set being wholesome, this is exactly what this is. It’s a show filled with love for each other, a love for collective energy and a love for the inclusivity that’s inherent to this genre. As Drain close out with the haste of ‘California Cursed’, whilst this tour may be the band’s most successful run of dates on our shores thus far, there will undoubtedly soon come a time when venues of this modest size will be far beyond them.
Score: 9/10