Photo: Joshua Andrade

Next month, Power Trip will be back with their sophomore album, Nightmare Logic, on Southern Lord. And while you might have already lined up for the “Firing Squad,” last year, they’re back with another new song that should involuntarily get your head banging. “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)” is anchored by a basic hardcore groove, but with it’s “swing of the axe!” chorus and the Anselmo-esque barking of singer Riley Gale, might be one of the catchiest and most straight-forward song they’ve written yet.  According to Gale, the song was written about Eastern European countries where the person sentenced to death was given a chance to repent:

“If they did, they were given a bag of coins, silver or alike.  For if they were particularly vile or the executioner felt lazy, it may take more than one swing of that axe to get that person’s head off and that kind of death is certainly one you’d want to be as painless as possible.”

“Hence, the Executioner’s Tax to ensure a strong, lights out kinda death. It’s more subtly an allegory about that being the motive for a lot of people these days and how the people that feed and heal us (The Executioner and The Priest).  They love to get us addicted, fat, sick – so they can feed us, medicate us and nearly quite literally kill many of us.  We pay for pleasure of making it taste good or being numb to it all. We are all slowly paying our way out and our lives are built around the Executioner’s Tax – hopefully going out quick and easy. We subconsciously crave for our end, a spoiled one.”

Regardless, the song kicks ass, and you’ll be getting a chance to see it live when the band kick off a tour with Iron Reagan. You can see those dates below the video. Nightmare Logic will be out on Southern Lord Records on February 24th and can be preordered here.

Bram Teitelman

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