Power Trip are, bar none, one of the most impactful thrash acts of the modern era.
When these Dallas, Texas, titans first got together in the mid ’00s, they quickly harnessed a signature heaviness inspired by hardcore viciousness and the precision punishment of the first wave of thrash. Armed with charismatic, scene-unifying screamer par excellence Riley Gale at the front of the stage, the band quickly connected with their locale scene — and then with the metal world at large.
While founding vocalist Gale sadly passed away just over four years ago, the rest of the group are honoring their heavy legacy on a series of reunion dates with vocalist and friend Seth Gilmore (who also plays with Power Trip guitarist Blake Ibanez in Fugitive). And though it’s been five years since Power Trip released a new song, there may be more music to come from the band in the future.
In the meantime, we tasked the Revolver faithful with picking the single best cut in Power Trip’s mighty catalog thus far. These were the five tracks that got the most votes.
“Hammer of Doubt”
Revolver readers were somewhat split on their feelings for “Hammer of Doubt.” That’s no slight on the track itself. It’s just that Power Trip put out multiple versions of this ultra-raging, pit-starting, pinch-squealing thrasher. So, which one do you prefer?
There’s a derelict immediacy to the 2010 version found on Triple B records’ America’s Hardcore compilation, with the band erupting right into a volcanic display of metal riffage and rip-snorting snare hits. The version found on 2014’s Manifest Decimation built up tension with an extended intro sampling Texas-set 1984 drama film Blood Simple, and then it blasts into overdrive. Ibanez himself noted that he might prefer the OG, but however they slammed the hammer down, there’s no doubt that Power Trip brought it heavy.
“Crossbreaker”
Few album titles are as viscerally perfect and on-point as Manifest Decimation. Power Trip’s 2014 full-length debut made it its mission to full-on mangle you through every manic chug and every bone-snapping break. Power Trip willed it to be a destructive force, and damned if they didn’t deliver.
While “Crossbreaker” sits on the slower side of things, the mid-tempo number’s got us caught up in a downpour of punishing grooves, thoughtfully chunky guitar-play from Ibanez and co-guitarist Nick Stewart, and a earth-shaking round of hardcore-style gang vocals that sound like they’re echoing straight out of hell — or at least the Palo Duro canyon.
“Hornet’s Nest”
As far as battle anthems go, you don’t get much better than Power Trip’s speed-buzzed “Hornet’s Nest.” The standalone single — sadly, the group’s last piece of new music to be released before Gale’s passing in 2020 — is somewhat about linking up with your friends and standing up for your scene. And if someone steps up to test that community — to shake the veritable hornet’s nest, as it were — then they’re bound to be swarmed by the fury of “thousands of singular voices” joining together as one.
You could argue the track is about unity in the metal and hardcore scenes — the song’s “black mass of impending doom,” a poetic reimagining of a raging circle pit perhaps — but it’s arguably even more so about people coming together and rising above the bullshit. Either way, fans fully embrace the chaos of “Hornet’s Nest.”
“Soul Sacrifice”
Power Trip plunged us deep into the mouth of madness with Nightmare Logic’s full-bruising album opener.
The song is a triple threat of sorts, beginning with spectral ambiance, then slamming into a nearly two-minute, mega-nasty, concrete-concussive mosh intro, and then the quintet ramp it all up into one of the album’s most frenzied thrash attacks. By the time Gale hits the mic, he’s frothed into revenge-fantasy mode, fully flippin’ the script by throwing his boot down firm on a former oppressor’s throat.
The end result? One of Power Trip’s most beloved and fully bangin’ tracks.
“Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)”
Really, could it have been anything else?
This standout Nightmare Logic single is one of the true all-timers — not just within Power Trip’s catalog, but for metal as a whole. Blessed with a master riffer’s touch, it’s a hard-judded and hooky, ultra-confident anthem from the 2010’s most impressive thrash force, and it had mega crossover appeal the second it dropped. It’s a scene-transcending masterpiece, with the metal track even rocking packed arenas outside of concert settings — quite literally getting blasted at Dallas Stars games at one point, as hockey players sharpened their blades ‘cross the ice. It’s the band’s defining track thus far — maybe their mightiest swing ever — and a certified ripper.
No holds barred, no fucks given — Power Trip came to collect with this one, and yet the “Executioner’s Tax” remains our reward.