Obituary have paid tribute to late Power Trip singer Riley Gale, who tragically passed away last summer. The death metal pioneers invited members of Power Trip onto a recent livestream for a cover of the latter’s staple song, “Executioner’s Tax (Swing of the Axe)”.
Power Trip guitarists Blake Ibanez and Nick Stewart made a surprise guest appearance for the cover, which was dedicated to Gale. It’s likely the first public performance by members of Power Trip since Gale’s death. Obituary did the rollicking track justice, and the unmistakeable riffage of Ibanez and Stewart sounded nothing short of triumphant given all that’s happened.
We previously reported on the first interview with the members of Power Trip since their August 25th statement confirming the death of their singer. While speaking to the L.A. Times, the band members stated that it was the first time they’d been in the same room together since Gale’s funeral, but that they hoped to play music together again.
“We do want to continue to play music together; we just are not sure what that looks like at this time,” Ibanez said.
Power Trip were working on their highly anticipated third album prior to the pandemic last March. It remains undetermined if the band members will finish the album or even continue under the Power Trip name for future projects.
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A live album was released in June 2020, with the included version of “Executioner’s Tax” notching a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance. Body Count — who collaborated with Gale on the 2020 track “Point the Finger” — would win the category, though frontman Ice-T said he was equally rooting for Power Trip.
Watch Obituary and members of Power Trip perform “Executioner’s Tax” below.
