Power Trip - Nightmare Logic
5/7
Dallas, Texas based thrash metal band Power Trip made a big splash in the metal community 2013 with their excellent debut album Manifest Decimation. The album was hardcore, tight, and definitely hit all the right spots when it came to new school thrash metal. Since then, the band has gone on to support absolute metal titans like Lamb of God, Napalm Death, & Eyehategod. With Manifest Decimation, Power Trip solidified themselves as top contenders in a class of exceptional new-school thrash metal acts alongside groups like Vektor & Skeletonwitch, defying the ideals of metal elitists that believe that thrash metal died in the 80s with the peak periods for the “Big Four” thrash metal behemoths, Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, & Metallica. While it has a more composed yet less atmospheric sound than its predecessor, sophomore effort Nightmare Logic still proves itself a worthy, solid entry in the realms of new-school thrash metal with some strong tracks that can evoke that most evil of rage to anyone that has the pleasure of having this record grace their frail ears.
Single “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)” is easily the record’s highlight and one of the best pieces of material the band has constructed. This track personifies everything Power Trip is doing to prove themselves champions of post 2000s thrash metal. “Executioner’s Tax,” is the song from the album that the Texas five-piece themselves claim is the catchiest song they’ve ever written. The song has steady, catchy riffs, a fist-pumping chorus (“Swing of the axe!”), and just classic metal songwriting all over it. Moving on to the lead single from the album, “Firing Squad”, Power Trip speeds up the tempo with a hardcore-meets-thrash metal tune that sees the band at their toughest and most enraged. While it’s a satisfying lead single from the record, the excessively fast tempo from the beginning of the song offsets what would be an otherwise persistent pace for the whole album. With a smooth break in the middle of the track that lays out lush metal grooves while still being consistent and destructive, “Firing Squad” is another peak moment on Nightmare Logic.
In an age where exceptional new-school thrash metal is lacking, Power Trip adds another admirable entry into the modern metal world even if it doesn’t make as a massive, laudable impact that Manifest Decimation did in 2013. Both Power Trip & Arizona sci-fi thrash band Vektor are strong new-school thrash bands that surely will spark some powerful influence into the metal community with their forward-thinking metal sounds, tight production, and overall sharp songwriting. Both the titular track “Nightmare Logic” and the mid-album rocker “Waiting Around to Die” inject some memorable, shred-worthy solos to the albums and both album singles are defining examples as to why Power Trip are smart metal heavyweights and have been so important to the metal community for the last half-decade.
Check out the highlight from the album “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)” here:
