Fuzzy Havoc.
Power Trip are a US based Metal band who have been building up quite a bit of buzz and momentum ahead of the release of this new record. 'Metal' is the right term for it because across eight tracks they've encompassed so many of the different strands of Metal, whether it be Thrash, Death or Groove, smashed them all together and produced a genuinely impressive slab of chaos. They've got a delightfully raw edge and not in the facetious way so many bands try and strong-arm it in to their production later on, but on a genuine level.
Opening track Soul Sacrifice introduces you immediately to an intense barrage of riffs with very obvious and clear call-backs to the likes of Exodus, early Slayer and even Pantera. Structurally as well, whether you take this opening track as an example or any of the others, they've simply nailed that tried and tested formula the top Metal bands have been delivering for years. There isn't any need for them to veer off all over the place, instead they compact everything together in brutal packages, with only one of the eight tracks making it over five minutes. There are also elements of old school Hardcore in their sound, with aspects very similar to the likes of Discharge or Agnostic Front adding that further level of aggression. If you were to compare this to more recent releases, it encapsulates a good mix of what you hear in Nails' You Will Never Be One Of Us and the Code Orange record Forever.
Going back to the production though, there's something really special about the overall feel of the record, there's this added depth of fury and pure havoc that just wouldn't have been there if they'd gone for a cleaner cut, so huge shout out has to go to Arthur Rizk for that. It sounds like a charged, fuzzy, chaotic live show in a sweaty beer stained bar venue taking place inside your headphones.
Overall then, in 2017 there aren't many straight up Metal records you would necessarily bother with. Whilst perhaps the "poor" state of the scene is very overstated, it is good to know that bands like Power Trip do exist to rejuvenate and re-energise better than most of their peers. It does sound like a record pulled straight from the early to mid 1990s, so it isn't exactly like the discovery of fire, but for pure Metal, this hits the spot spectacularly.