TROUBLE — Psalm 9 (review)

Album · 1984 · Traditional Doom Metal

4/5 · 2010-09-18
UMUR

Psalm 9 is the debut full-length studio album by American doom metal act Trouble. The album was released in March 1984 through Metal Blade Records. The album was originally an eponymously titled affair, but was re-named to Psalm 9 when Trouble released their eponymously titled 4th full-length studio album in 1990. The 1994 CD re-release includes a cover of Cream's Tales of Brave Ulysses as a bonus track.

The music on Psalm 9 is doom metal with traditional metal elements. While the influence from Black Sabbath is undeniable and obvious I´d mention Judas Priest as quite a big influence too. The best example of the latter´s influence on Trouble is heard in the track Assassin, which wouldn´t have sounded out of place on a Judas Priest album. Trouble have their own style though which evolves around harmony guitar lines, brick heavy doom metal parts and more up-tempo metal parts. Eric Wagner´s rusty vocal delivery is strong and personal. He is a very strong and convincing lead vocalist. The lyrics are written from a Christian viewpoint, which I know pose a problem for some ( just like blasphemous lyrics do to others), but personally I´m not bothered in this case. The songs on the album are in a consistently high quality and there is good variation on the album too. The above mentioned Assassin and the raw up-tempo metal track Bastards Will Pay are the most energetic tracks on the album while slow and gloomy doom metal tracks like the opener The Tempter and Victim of the Insane represent the slower doom metal side of the band´s sound. Even the slow tracks are not slow all the way through though. Most have faster paced sections too. In addition to the doom metal tracks and the more up-tempo rockers on the album, the almost progressive/ technical instrumental track Endtime also stand out. The CD bonus track is also worth mentioning, even though it´s a cover of a Cream song, because it points towards the more psychadelic doom rock/ metal sound that Trouble would play from their 4th album and onwards.

The musicianship on the album is strong. I´ve mentioned the rusty and skillful vocal delivery by Eric Wagner, but there´s a really strong rythm section backbone that ensures that the music is tight. The two guitarists Bruce Franklin and Rick Wartell delivers a really good performance here too. Those twisted harmonies that they play mean a lot for the sound. Great soloing too and the brick heavy riffs just work.

The only complaint I have about the album is probably the production. It´s a bit thin and lacks bottom. The bass is hardly audible in the mix, which is a crying shame. I don´t know why bass was a no no in the eighties, but this production is an example of it. Still the production is not a catastrophy and I´m able to enjoy the music without thinking about the thin sound all the time.

Psalm 9 is a "classic" doom metal album and the fact that it´s a debut album makes it even more impressive. Acts like Cathedral and Confessor are greatly influenced by the sound of the early Trouble, just to put Trouble´s influential nature in perspective. A 4 star rating is fully deserved. Had the production been a little better I would have given a 4.5 star rating.