Dallas, TX · crossover-thrash

Power Trip

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Crossover thrash that hardcore kids and metalheads agreed on — riffs with a pit already built into them, Riley Gale's legacy carried loud.

Power Trip formed in Dallas in 2008, built around vocalist Riley Gale, guitarists Blake Ibanez and Nick Stewart, bassist Chris Whetzel and drummer Chris Ulsh, who replaced early member Marcus Johnson in 2009. The band became one of the most widely admired crossover thrash acts of the 2010s, playing to hardcore and metal audiences alike.

Their sound combined thrash riffing with hardcore's rhythmic bluntness and shouted delivery, produced with a raw, cavernous quality that carried directly into their live show. Gale's lyrics, particularly on Nightmare Logic, addressed social inequality and activism, an attempt he described as finding optimism inside a shared struggle.

Power Trip signed to Southern Lord Records and released Manifest Decimation in 2013, followed by Nightmare Logic in 2017, an album that entered the Billboard charts and drew wide critical acclaim. A live recording of 'Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe)' earned a Grammy nomination, and the band shared stages with Anthrax, Exodus, Lamb of God and Ozzy Osbourne, among others.

Vocalist Riley Gale died in August 2020 at age 34; the cause was later ruled an accidental overdose involving fentanyl. He was known for his presence onstage and outspoken politics, and the band's catalogue has continued to circulate widely since his death.

In December 2023, the surviving members played a surprise set in Austin with singer Seth Gilmore, formerly of the band Fugitive, taking over vocals. The band confirmed the following year that it would keep playing shows with Gilmore fronting the lineup.

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crossover-thrash