Amid the ‘kitchen sink’ technique so prevalent in metal, Texan thrashers Power Trip are innovating with simplicity.
We want to be the best - and we really don’t want to sound like anyone else right now
Their sound is an enthralling blend of menacing samples, classic thrash songcraft and Lamb Of God punch - not to mention a blasé attitude to the metal rulebook.
Guitarists Nick Stewart and Blake Ibanez favour an ESP EX-401 and Jackson RR-1, respectively and rely on little tonal trickery.
Lacing up
“We use Lace Drop & Gain pickups,” explains Nick. “then I have an ENGL Ritchie Blackmore and I play through a Mesa cabinet. No effects pedals - I like stuff that kicks ass.” This conviction runs deep within Power Trip.
“Sometimes we’re too simple for technical metal heads,” reflects Blake. “But we’re just trying to write good riffs and songs… We want to be the best - and we really don’t want to sound like anyone else right now.”
- For fans of: Lamb Of God, Slayer
- Hear: Firing Squad
“It sounded so amazing that people said to me, ‘I can hear the bass’, which usually they don’t say to me very often”: U2 bassist Adam Clayton contrasts the live audio mix in the Las Vegas Sphere to “these sports buildings that sound terrible”
“It didn’t even represent what we were doing. Even the guitar solo has no business being in that song”: Gwen Stefani on the No Doubt song that “changed everything” after it became their biggest hit
“It sounded so amazing that people said to me, ‘I can hear the bass’, which usually they don’t say to me very often”: U2 bassist Adam Clayton contrasts the live audio mix in the Las Vegas Sphere to “these sports buildings that sound terrible”
“It didn’t even represent what we were doing. Even the guitar solo has no business being in that song”: Gwen Stefani on the No Doubt song that “changed everything” after it became their biggest hit
