Power Trip
photo via Niall Booker

Power Trip and Destruction Unit played LA (review)

Dallas thrash warriors Power Trip brought their west coast tour with psych-punk outfit Destruction Unit through Los Angeles over the weekend, hitting the Teragram Ballroom on April 8 with help from Cali crossover outfit Mizery. Unfortunately I was late for that opening set, but the action from Destruction Unit and Power Trip made it more than a worthwhile night.

It was my first time catching Destruction Unit live, and their stellar reputation as a live act was very much borne out on Saturday night. They manage a kind of organized chaos that bands so rarely get right, walking a line between hard-driving and meandering that it seems like no other band even goes for. It’s in that “psych-punk” genre descriptor, a designation that seems dubious but actually works beautifully for them, the two modes sharing a kind of disorganized energy that works when pushed to such a high volume. They’re loose but furious, and the energy that they conjured out of a wall of amps and pedals was seriously imposing.

Then came Power Trip, who for my money are one of the very best live metal bands in the game right now. Their music works incredibly in this setting because of its simplicity and clarity. Their great new LP Nightmare Logic showcases more songs that are all riffs and no fat, and in a live setting it just plays even more effectively. It helps that the band is incredibly tight without sacrificing hardcore energy, and that frontman Riley Gale has a masterful command of the crowd. They just flattened the place, and whether or not you were moshing or stage-diving (which seemingly described at least 50% of the crowd), it was impossible not to feel it as they ripped through the crowd. They’ve got the kind of power, precision and energy to get the crowd going absolutely berserk, which they were, happily. It was a complete blast.

After Power Trip wrap up this west coast tour they head to Europe for shows with Napalm Death. Check out some photos and videos from the LA show below.

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