Power Trip’s “Executioners Tax (Live)”
By: Ryan O'Connor
Tags: Magazine, Metal, Music, Music Review, Grammys

Power Trip’s “Executioners Tax (Live)”

Power Trip’s crushing live track nominated for Best Metal Performance Grammy

Photo Courtesy of Angela Owens

The first time I ever saw Power Trip was on March 17th, 2017 at Once Ballroom in Somerville(R.I.P.) it was the beginning of their nationwide tour on the heels of their most recent release: Nightmare Logic.

We all knew Power Trip was a band that wielded an enormous amount of energy and, for lack of a better word, power in both their live shows and their records. Going to the see them on this tour felt like nothing I’d ever experienced at a hardcore show or a metal show. It felt like you were standing at the foot of a volcano and could feel the tremors as it came to erupt. When it came time for them to hit the stage, my mind drifted back to listening to that record for the first time the week before… and I remember a slight terror overcoming me. That record created a feeling of not knowing what was going to happen next at this show.

The speakers began playing the rumble, the sounds that remind you of a distant nuclear explosion before it wiped you from this earth. I now felt alone in that sold out room of about 300 people, it was as though I were being led to my own beheading and then out came my executioners.

Power Trip playing live sounded just as strong and mountainous as they did in their recordings, they were insanely tight and locked in with each other. Uncompromising in each performance the crowd was always overcome with excitement, their music igniting that anger, energy and spontaneity that comes from these shows.

Riley Gale was wielding the microphone as though it were a weapon, chopping heads off when he approached to scream into the microphone. Being at the front allowed me the chance to behold him as the band blasted through the opening song “Soul Sacrifice.” Seeing this track performed live dealt a devastating blow to any non-believers of Power Trip’s skill, if they weren’t fans before they certainly were now.

Their second song followed the albums order properly: “Executioners Tax.” The track was one of my personal favorites off their new album and hearing it live cemented its legacy in my mind forever. Guitarist Blake Ibanez leading the charge with the chugging intro riffs, the rhythm section of Nick Stewart, Chris Whetzel and Chris Ulsh hyping everyone in the crowd up. Finally the verses, which we’d already all become familiar with began as Riley grasped his Excalibur, nay, his battle-axe to sing into: “The Executioners here and he’s ready to make you pay.”

Suddenly, the microphone was in my face as Riley scanned the crowd with his face contorted with determination as though leading a cavalry charge. “SWING OF THE AXE!” I screamed into it without thinking, without rehearsal, my only prompt was the mic in my face, everything else was just muscle memory. Riley reclaimed his weapon and continued on. This tradition in hardcore shows of giving the crowd the microphone wordlessly saying “go on kid, you take this one” is one of the foundations of underground music, it reminds us that these bands are no bigger than we are and that maybe someday we’ll give a kid in the crowd the mic and tell them to sing for us as well. Riley passed that tradition over to me that night and it’s a moment that I will never forget.

On August 24th, 2020 at the age of 34 Power Trip broke the news that vocalist Riley Gale had died. 3 years, 5 months and 17 days since I last witnessed them. The only time I ever witnessed them live. In that time they climbed their way to become one of the biggest new metal bands in America all on the strength of Nightmare Logic. Those people who filled Once Ballroom that cold March evening witnessed a new beginning for the seasoned band formed in 2008. Everyone who saw them on that tour that year witnessed a band on the brink of propelling itself to the heights they would later achieve. It was something special and serves as testament to their legacy and Riley’s legacy as a stunning vocalist.

They played that show as they played any other, they crushed every second of it and left us all wanting more by the time the show was over. Unfortunately all good things do come to an end and it hurts that Riley is no longer with us. Since we won’t be getting any more from this lineup we just have the memories of those tracks being played live and the moments we shared with the members of the band and the people in the crowd. Live recordings of this lineup are the documents for the generations to see the tremendous excitement Power Trip filled a room with during this time and many other times before.

Power Trip’s Grammy nomination for the track “Executioners Tax” off their recent live album serves as a tribute for Riley and the affect Power Trip had on so many people in the scene. They came so far from that small club I saw them play in and the thousands of others I’m certain they played in before, so have many of their fellow headbangers nominated in the Best Metal Performance category. This live track’s Grammy nomination brings the band the acclaim they deserve, that they worked tirelessly to achieve in their years rising up from the Texas hardcore and metal scene and into the hearts of headbangers, moshers and thrashers worldwide. While the Grammy’s have been repeatedly dismissive towards metal music and all but neglected hardcore music, the attention a Grammy nom brings is what Power Trip deserves, that recognition that could only be marked higher if it were received while Riley was still with us. For now though let’s cheer them on and remember the times we shared with this band over the years as they crushed the scene with their incredible music.