When it come to live albums, I have always noticed that the final product can either end up perfectly capturing that raw live sounding experience, or it can end up sounding like a catastrophic muddled mess. So when news came out that Hammerheart Records was going to be releasing a remastered version of Trouble’s 2002 live performances in Stockholm, Sweden on vinyl, I was instantly eager to hear how this album would end up sounding.
Over the years Trouble has amassed a strong cult following and is without question a band that will go down history as one of the most influential doom metal bands within the subgenre. This legendary Chicago based act has a truly impressive and exceptional discography, so when it comes down to selecting songs for a live set, they have a plethora of great material to choose from. I would say that the setlist is what stood out to me right away when I received this promo for the album, because the band definitely does a great job selecting songs from each of their classic albums. If you are a fan of albums such as Psalm 9, The Skull, Run to the Light, the 1990 self-titled album, Manic Frustration and Plastic Green Head, then you will quickly notice how each album is represented during this show.
For their opening song the band starts off with, “R.I.P.,” which is one of the my favorite songs from Trouble and in my opinion features some of the most fearsome sounding riffs. The band’s lead singer Eric Wagner sounds amazing and his delivery throughout the song perfectly compliments the intense and heavy arrangement. Also, the crowd noise injects this extra level of frantic energy into the overall mix, which really makes this opening track to the album hook you right away. Moving forward the band breaks out tracks like, “Come Touch the Sky,” “End of My Daze,” and “Plastic Green Head,” to appease the ravenous doom fanatics in the crowd. During the song, “End of My Daze,” Eric even gets the crowd to join in and sing along as the band hammers out that classic sounding doom riff that always seems to get stuck in my head after I listen to the song.
My favorite Trouble album is, “Run to the Light,” so I'm glad that the band included the title track from the album into this performance. To begin, Bruce Franklin and Rick Wartell display some exceptional guitar work at the beginning of the song and throughout the track both guitarists compliment each other extremely well. If you listen to any Trouble release for that matter, then you will instantly notice how these two guitarists have some unbelievably strong chemistry. Along with the haunting yet dynamic guitar playing and bone crushing drum parts, Eric’s delivery is without question an important part of the band’s sound. During the song, “The Skull,” I was utterly amazed by how Eric took the music to an even heavier and more profound level with his vocal performance.
To wrap the album up, the band selects a perfect encore track, “The Tempter,” which is from their debut album, “Psalm 9.” I have always liked how this song starts off slow with Eric project his haunting vocal aura around the doomy riffs, and then all of a sudden the band kicks it into 2nd gear by unleashing a tidal wave of catchy rhythmic destruction. Again, this was a great choice for the final song to this live release, but to be honest the band could have chosen any song from their past albums to finish and bet you that the crowd would have been rocking out until the very end.
Unfortunately Eric Wagner passed away last year, however, I strongly believe that this live album will serve as yet another testament to his exceptional contributions when pertaining to the world of hard rock and heavy metal. I highly recommend checking out this album if you are a fan of Trouble, or simply just a fan of killer sounding doom metal. Although the band might have not received a fair amount of attention from the mainstream rock and metal music press back in the day, they sure as hell have gained a loyal fanbase over the years with younger generations of metal fans still discovering their brilliant music and keeping the spirit of doom metal alive.
Check out the song "End of My Daze" from the album below :
Hammerheart Records Store (Album comes out September 2nd, 2022) :
Links to Listen to the Album:
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