Fans are glad the band is again grinding live, but many also want to know: What about new music? Drummer Chris Ulsh offered some insight during a recently published interview with Metal Hammer — and he’s telling us there’s a non-zero chance of future Power Trip classics.
Score.
In August 2020, Power Trip got some terrible news. Vocalist Riley Gale had unexpectedly died at 34. Ulsh told Metal Hammer that the massive loss, coupled with the coronavirus pandemic, made for a difficult time, and that remaining band members’ livelihoods took a hit.
Some have since speculated about what lies ahead for Power Trip, the group that solidified North Texas as a metallic-hardcore gold mine.
Frontman Seth Gilmore (Fugitive, Skourge) took the helm during a surprise set in December at The Mohawk in Austin. He again commanded the stage in Big D on July 6. Metal Hammer asked Ulsh whether the reactivated band intends to return “full steam ahead with new material” or if it’ll take its sweet time.
The latter, Ulsh replied, referencing some upcoming shows.
“I think we'll just assess after the shows and make some moves, although I wish I had more to tell you,” he said. “Blake and I have a ton of music that we've been working on, there's plenty of stuff there. We just haven't even really gotten there mentally, because we want to get these shows past us first.”
Slow and intentional sounds like a solid plan, even if it is hard to wait.
Power Trip is gaining more fans thanks to Spotify and the internet, Ulsh said. As loads of folks discover the crossover-thrash titans who hadn’t seen them before, the group intends to recycle old hits for the new ears in the room.
“Then after that,” Ulsh continued, “we can start thinking about maybe getting something new out there."
The band’s last studio album, 2017’s monstrous Nightmare Logic, earned glowing reviews — including from the infamously tough-to-please Pitchfork, which delivered an 8.4 rating. A live version of the single “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)” scored the band a Grammy nod in 2021. Ulsh described that as both a surprise and “huge honor.”
The drummer said that the nomination legitimized Power Trip’s uncompromising, heavy sound for the public and the Grammys’ overlords.
Asked how it felt playing with Power Trip once more, Ulsh replied, “It was interesting.” He said that being back onstage with the band felt both familiar and foreign — a sort of warped blast back to 2018.
Empowered Trip
Power Trip’s members have independently stayed active in the years since Gale’s death. Lead guitarist Blake Ibanez sparked up a supergroup, Fugitive, and bassist Chris Whetzel is razing speakers with Dallas fantasy brigade Myth Carver.Gilmore may be relatively new to Power Trip, but he’s already earned the band’s confidence, Ulsh told Metal Hammer. He’ll keep lending his talents during the upcoming 2024 shows.
Ulsh got a bit sentimental when prompted by the interviewer. He noted that when O.G. Power Trip used to play The Mohawk, fans would leap off a big balcony “like something out of a movie.”
Returning to the stage in December proved that not much had changed.
“The reaction was awesome,” Ulsh said of that show. “It's nice to see that people still care and still want to see this band play shows and that they're as crazy as they always were. I think that was the boost we needed to start scheduling all these shows that we have coming up this summer.”
Power Trip is set to shred in New York City later this month and at Desert Daze, the California festival, in October.
