| "Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe)" | |
|---|---|
| Single by Power Trip | |
| from the album Nightmare Logic | |
| Genre | Thrash metal[citation needed] |
| Length | 3:53 |
| Label | Southern Lord Records |
| Producer(s) | Arthur Rizk |
| Music video | |
| "Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe)" on YouTube | |
"Executioner's Tax (Swing of the Axe)" is a 2017 song by American thrash metal band Power Trip, released as the second single from their second studio album Nightmare Logic. According to the song's vocalist Riley Gale, its lyrics are inspired by the practice of paying a fee to executioners in medieval Europe for a painless death, which he applied to the political climate at the time. The song was generally praised by critics, particularly for the performance of Gale and guitarists Blake Ibanez and Nick Stewart. A live version of the song was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2021.