Escapi Music / Suburban

Website: Trouble

The Chicago based band Trouble was founded in the late seventies, today they haven risen to cult status. Halfway through the nineties, Trouble would serve as a source of inspiration for many doom/stoner metalbands such as Kyuss, Candlemass, Paradise Lost, Anathema, My Dying Bride and Cathedral. The heavy, slow and solid wall of sound they produce can best be described as a combination of Black Sabbath-like riffs and tempo, and psychedelic influences of the late sixties, topped off with spiritual and religious vocal depth. ´White Metal´ is the genre that Trouble is attributed to, allbeit with (musical) references to the faster black variety of the metal genre.

Twelve years post the release of their last classic ´Plastic Green Head´, Trouble´s latest album entitled ´Simple Mind Condition´ is set to be released. ´Plastic Green Head´ was originally planned for release in 2003 under the title ´Seven´. Trouble has since closed a deal with Escapi Music who re-released the first two Trouble albums (´Psalm 9´, 1984 and ´Skull´, 1985) last year. In 1994 the band released the self-produced ´One For The Road´ EP. This EP contained four songs of which "Requiem" and "Another Day" were later re-recorded for the ´Plastic Green Head´ album. For the latest Trouble album the track "Going Home" was taken from the EP and re-recorded also. "Going Home" combines power and melancholy with heavy riffs and melodic vocals. The next track on the album is the exquisit song "Mind Bender" which is based on a groovy riff, a typical Trouble song with impressive axework and vocals. The track "After The Rain" reminds me of the Trouble classic "Misery Shows" from the album ´Run To The Light´. ´Simple Mind Condition´ is larded with heavy, solid guitarriffs. Robinson and Olson have totally found each other in the rhythm section and the guitar parts are powerful and heavy like back in the day. Don´t expect ground breaking novities from this band, expect the real, authentic Trouble sound in all its majesty. Besides the occasional modern influence on ´Simple Mind Condition´, the album also contains more doomy parts than its predecessor ´Plastic Green Head´. Near the end of the album we discover a decent cover of Lucifer´s Friend´s "Ride The Sky".

´Simple Mind Condition´was produced by Vinny Wojno (Kreator, Machine Head). After more than twelve years, Trouble´s energy, power and passion are as strong as everand they have managed to release a fresh and solid album with a number of songs of such class that they will please many a Heavy, Doom, Stoner and Hardrock lover enthusiast.
 

Tracklist:
01. Goin’ Home
02. Mindbender
03. Seven
04. Pictures Of Life
05. After The Rain
06. Trouble Maker
07. Arthur Brown’s Whiskey Bar
08. Simple Mind Condition
09. Ride In The Sky
10. If I Only Had A Reason
11.The Beginning Of Sorrows

Trouble are:
Eric Wagner - Vocals
Bruce Franklin - Guitar
Rick Wartell - Guitar
Chuck Robinson - Bass
Jeff Olson - Drums