Chris Whitbread
A Night In Texas
Overview
Chris Whitbread has spent the better part of a decade behind the kit for A Night In Texas, one of the most uncompromising bands Australian heavy music has produced. Formed in Cairns in 2009 and based in Brisbane since 2013, the band has carried Australian deathcore across three continents, touring Europe and the UK with Aversions Crown and Rings of Saturn, Asia supporting Whitechapel on the Mark of the Blade tour, and Europe with I Declare War.
Chris grew up in the Barossa Valley in South Australia and started playing in 2003 at the age of 13, on a Pearl Export. The way in was Travis Barker. “Travis hooked me with what he calls drum riffs,” he says. “I always saw drums as a front of stage instrument. Showmanship, not just timekeeping.”
As his playing sharpened he went looking for harder material. Joey Jordison (Slipknot) was the gateway, with Adrian Erlandsson (Cradle of Filth) and Alexandre Pelletier (Despised Icon) following as the pull toward death metal took hold, and the speed and physicality of the genre became the thing he chased. The result is a style he describes simply: “Precise, but with show pony elements. Speed, feel and groove.”
Chris first joined A Night In Texas in 2015, recording Unholy Alliance, the band’s split with Canada’s AngelMaker, before stepping away in 2017. He never left the band’s orbit, and on his return he wrote and tracked the drums for their fifth
album, The Darkest Side of Humanity, released in September 2026 through Unique Leader Records and mixed and mastered by Christian Donaldson of Cryptopsy.
“The new record and the AngelMaker split showcase different fill styles,” he says. “More groove and chops, rather than just endless 32nd note rolls.”
Beyond A Night In Texas, Chris has played with Embured, Harlow & The Stratagem, alongside session work across the Australian scene. He still holds the chair in Abandon All Hope and can be heard across their records.
Tour Kit 2026 — Masters Series
