Review Summary: Power Trip's self titled release shows what this band is capable of, but falls short due to it's length and the band's failure to utilize their sound to the fullest potential.
“We are Power Trip, and we will f ucking kill you!” was the way that the vocalist introduced his band to the crowd when I saw them perform live last month. Power Trip was touring with Xibalba and Alpha & Omega. They were the opening band for this tour, first on the stage. But clearly, this band should have been the headliner. The crowd of roughly 100 went berserk for their set and everyone left after they performed. There was a reason why: Power Trip is the newest surprise sensation with Hardcore fans, despite not being a real Hardcore band. This band blew into the spotlight this year. They rode on the backs of Hardcore tours and shows, ultimately performing to a packed crowd at This Is Hardcore 2012. Despite only being 3 songs long, Power Trip slays.
Divine Apprehension is a relentless 4 minutes of some of the best Crossover Thrash to be released in a while. Divine Apprehension is a display of Power Trip's ability to shred. Every important aspect that needs to be in a Crossover Trash track can be heard here. The highly technical guitar playing drives most of the album, setting the standards of coherency, power, and stamina with precise, technical riffing. Despite the guitarists being the spotlight of Power Trip, everyone else in this band is just as dexterous, playing their instruments with a highly disciplined and controlled fury. Even at the ridiculously fast tempos that are played in Divine Apprehension, everyone else is able to keep up with the guitars that drive this masterpiece.
Suffer No Fool shows Power Trip's more Hardcore tendencies. Starting with some fast, intense riffing, the song then goes toward a slower bridge before going directly into a breakdown. This song gives the rest of the band time to display their capabilities at the expense of no real stand out guitar work. The drumming is the defining element in this song. The drummer's contributions to this song involve precise and tasteful playing that does an excellent job of changing tempos and feeling in a song, for as far as guitar work goes, is quite boring. The final song is a cover from Crossover Thrash legends, Prong. Brainwave, the song they chose was an appropriate one to do. Power Trip takes on the song with their combined mastery, and knock it out of the park. Their ability to cover such a great band will go over well with both the newcomers and older Crossover fans.
Power Trip, however, need to work on a lot of things. The bass work is nearly non-existent and Suffer No Fool, though a great song, does not really show the same amount of intensity that this band displayed in Divine Apprehension. Also, at only three songs, the release is quite short. If Power Trip want to really cash in on this sudden interest for their band, they will definitely harness their talent to the potential that they know they are capable of. During their live set, the band mentioned they were going to record a full length album. Hopefully then, the true capability of Power Trip will be unleashed.
