Aaron Rhodes
Editor-in-chief
arhodes2@jccc.edu
Power Trip is five-piece crossover thrash metal band from Dallas, Texas. Since its formation in 2008, the group has released several tapes and EPs, as well as one full-length album. That full-length, 2013’s “Manifest Decimation,” cemented the band’s status as a modern act well-versed in its genre’s past. The album also decimated the right people’s ears as well, seeing that the band was invited to tour with heavy hitters like Anthrax and Eyehategod in the years that followed.
Now, after nearly four years, Power Trip has returned with a new record. “Nightmare Logic” is its second offering on Southern Lord Recordings, and is equipped to win over any thrash metal purists that “Manifest Decimation” may have missed.
The band has upped its game instrumentally. Its two guitarists are hard at work, packing in lightning-fast solos that easily best those on the previous album. “Firing Squad” is a particularly vicious track that administers blistering solos along with the half-time mosh riffs that fans of the hardcore genre love so dearly.
Another element that makes “Nightmare Logic” such a complete offering is its lyrics. Vocalist Riley Gale’s gravelly aggression is far less vague than the average metal album. Gale sets his sights on the dangers perpetrated by the pharmaceutical industry on one track and his distaste for morally bankrupt politicians on another.
“Nightmare Logic” builds off everything the band has done before, while inching ever closer to the thrash perfection achieved by Slayer and other greats of the genre. The album plays like eight swift slashes from a rusted scythe, simultaneously chopping listeners to pieces and uniting them under a just cause.