Sound on Sound presents Cannibal Corpse, Power Trip, Gatecreeper, Blanck Mass

“I find our songs deadly serious, so maybe that’s why there’s death-related topics,” posits Riley Gale, roaring frontman for Dallas thrash unit Power Trip. For all the archaic methods of capital punishment – beheadings, crucifixions, and firing squads – that spill blood on the quintet’s sophomore LP Nightmare Logic, another tortured time also rules: 2017.

“I studied some postmodern philosophy, which has a lot to do with deconstructing history and applying a broad political notion to it,” explains Gale, pointing to single “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe),” which won “Metal Song of the Year” honors at the 2017 Loudwire Music Awards. “Before the guillotine, they still had the axeman. If you were a criminal, a priest would come to you before you were executed and ask, ‘Do you want to repent?’ If you turned to God at your final hour, they’d give you a bag of silver or nickel and you were supposed to tip the executioner so he cuts your head off in one swing and it’s not painful.

“I took that idea and sort of applied it to our current political climate,” continues the screamer, whose band includes Austin extreme music linchpin Chris Ulsh (Mammoth Grinder, Impalers, Hatred Surge, Iron Age) on drums and eschews the pitfalls of crossover thrash by leaning heavily on raw hardcore punk influences. “The way I see a lot of capitalists in corporate America, they’d gladly pay for the privilege of a comfortable and numb way to die, whether it’s with prescription drugs or getting fat, watching TV, and eating junk food. I see it all as the same thing: We’re paying off the executioner.”