Trouble - Psalm 9 (1984)

Could Trouble be the greatest metal band of all time ? Well, they certainly could be one of the heaviest, and like Sabbath, Zeppelin and Slayer, have carved their own niche into which a categorisation for their sound is nigh on impossible. To call them 'doom metal' is too simple, and it would be like calling Sabbath 'doom' too, when the reality is, bands such as Trouble are simply natural genius, born into a world where they bestow upon us lucky souls their own brand of bleak fury, dark teachings and crushing us with continuous slabs of molten HEAVY metal.
Would Trouble have happened without Sabbath ? Well, that's something we'll never know, but what we do know is that Trouble, hailing from Chicago, have that same magical air and mystery about them which Sabbath exuded so long ago.
Trouble began in '79 and at the time of writing this review (2007) remain as consistently brilliant as early Sabbath.
'Psalm 9', also known by fans as 'Trouble', despite the bands fourth album actually being self-titled, is a suffocating, bloated earthquake, not droll or sluggish like quicksand, but instead a rising behemoth, not even hinting at what greatness was to come, yet shining oh so darkly in its gargantuan domain.
In Eric Wagner there's a more gritty Ozzy, and a more sinister Robert Plant, warning the Earth, yet screaming through the catacombs, breaking the clouds and steamrolling all of God's creations. This is real rock 'n' roll, real heavy, heavy metal, blitzed by 'The Tempter', pounded relentlessly by 'Bastards Will Pay' and stampeded by the Sabbath riffage courtesy of Wartell and Franklin.
This is the beginning...
8/10