TROUBLE - PSALM 9 (1984)
Of the ultra-formative 80s bands, I find it a little bit difficult to pick a favourite. Pentagram had the sharpest songwriting, Saint Vitus was the slowest and heaviest, and Candlemass served up the best riffs. It's a very balanced grouping of legendary artists. Trouble, who, with those groups completes doom metal's "big four", of course, are the tightest instrumentally.
Yes, this band ****ing rips, and, for doom metal, they're incredibly energetic and fast. Not that there aren't slow moments, like the gargantuan Victim of the Insane, but I think most people fresh off Electric Wizard or whatever may find themselves scratching their heads a little that this really is the same genre of music. Of course, "doom" isn't just something to do with tempo (though doom bands often use slow, for metal, tempos), and the atmosphere of Psalm 9 is undeniably miserable.
Everything on here is instrumental bliss. Trouble sounded great together, and there's loads of chewy riffing to demonstrate that. They're fluid, dynamic, and so kill every section of the material, which is some of their best stuff. It's never particularly wank, though, and all of the soloing is melodic and well composed. Probably the best group of musicians playing this kind of music since Black Sabbath.
Oh also, they really **** with god. Yes, this band is very explicitly Christian. No, I didn't feel a need to tell you that this doom metal band sings about how cool Jesus is till the end of my review, because they're that ****ing good. Anyway, I actually really like this album's lyrics. There's some really dark **** and real palpable anger, as well as multiple anti-war barn burners in the Sabbath tradition. It's cool to see this band hold onto doom's countercultural roots in such a ferocious way. In this vein, Assassin is probably my favourite Trouble track period, with its buzzsaw attack and righteous chorus. So I actually totally appreciate this band's ideology being so central. I'm irreligious, but they just make me want to lift weights and go kick Satan's ****ing ass.
What else is there to say? Trouble is great.
Btw I decided like I don't feel like posting YouTube **** I'm trying to haul ass.