Power Trip has released new music with Seth Gilmore on vocals. The Texas band unveiled “Precinct 3” and “Scavenger”, its first original songs since Riley Gale’s death in 2020, alongside a music video directed by Eric Richter. The tracks arrived on streaming platforms on October 9 through Blue Grape Music, following their premiere on SiriusXM earlier in the week, and preview an album expected in spring 2027.
The return to the studio follows Gilmore’s arrival as the band’s live vocalist. His first appearance with Power Trip came during a surprise performance in Austin in December 2023; the group resumed playing full sets in 2024. The singer already shared a stage with guitarist Blake Ibanez in Fugitive and was also known for his work in Skourge. He now brings new material to a catalogue he had previously been performing live.
While writing “Precinct 3”, Ibanez and his bandmates thought about Gale and the subjects he might have wanted to address. The song examines the dangers of unchecked authority, a subject the guitarist connects with his former vocalist’s approach to Power Trip’s lyrics. Asking what Riley might have written helped them find a starting point.
“Once we decided on that approach, it honestly came really easily—the lyrics were flowing and it just felt like the right way to kick off this new chapter and honor him,” Ibanez explained. The guitarist added that he believes Gale would have been excited to see the work come together. His memory remained part of the writing process, beyond the decision to record again under the band’s name.
“Scavenger” turns its attention towards a different kind of abuse: people using someone else’s work and relationships to gain a position they later turn against them. Gilmore described individuals who develop a sense of importance through association and eventually harm the very people who helped them get there. The singer’s explanation focuses on that behaviour without identifying a particular person as the song’s target.
The sessions took place at Empire Sound in Carrollton, Texas, with Jacob Hansen producing and Blake Ibanez co-producing. Hansen also handled mixing and mastering. For drummer Chris Ulsh, the partnership worked because the producer understands both the demands of a large-scale recording and the extreme-metal underground of the late 1980s.
“We’re tough to please because we want something that sounds current, but most importantly we want it to sound like us, however that comes out,” Ulsh said. That was the requirement the group brought into the studio: use contemporary production tools while retaining a sound its members recognised as their own. Hansen arrived with experience working alongside bands including Volbeat, Arch Enemy and The Black Dahlia Murder.
The release of “Precinct 3” includes a video by Eric Richter, whose previous work includes Knocked Loose and Evanescence. Both songs will also receive a limited seven-inch vinyl release, already available to preorder. A Record Store Day Black Friday edition with alternate artwork is scheduled for November 27; Rough Trade lists it on translucent red vinyl, limited to 1,500 copies.
