Watch Power Trip & Obituary Members Play “Executioner’s Tax (Swing Of The Axe)” In Tribute To Riley Gale
Last August, Power Trip frontman Riley Gale died at the age of 34, an unfathomable loss for the hardcore and metal communities. Since Gale’s passing, there’s been a wave of sustained love for both Gale and his fans. Earlier this month, the surviving members of Power Trip spoke with the Los Angeles Times, and they mentioned the possibility that they could continue on as a band. Guitarist Blake Ibanez said, “We do want to continue to play music together; we just are not sure what that looks like at this time.” And more recently, most of the band paid tribute by playing a Power Trip classic with some friends and former tourmates.
As Brooklyn Vegan points out, John and Donald Tardy, from the legendary Florida death metal band Obituary, have been playing a series of livestream performances lately. In the most recent one, the Tardy brothers teamed up with three of the four surviving Power Trip members — Ibanez, guitarist Nick Stewart, and bassist Chris Whetzel — to play Power Trip’s 2017 anthem “Executioner’s Tax (Swing Of The Axe).”
This is the first time the members of Power Trip have done any sort of performance since Gale’s death, but they don’t treat it like some big occasion. Instead, it’s a relatively casual performance, with camera work that nobody would call professional. (For a lot of it, some dude’s elbow takes up a large percentage of the screen.) That’s as it should be. It’s nice just to watch these guys rip again. Check out the video below.