Maximum Metal Rating Legend
5 Excellent - Masterpiece. A classic.
4.5-4 Great - Almost perfect records but there's probably a lacking.
3.5 Good - Most of the record is good, but there may be some filler.
3 Average - Some good songs, some bad ones at about a half/half ratio.
2.5-2 Fair - Worth a listen, but best obtained by collectors.
1.5-1 Bad - Major problems with music, lyrics, production, etc.
0 Terrible - Waste of your life and time.

Note: Reviews are graded from 0-5, anything higher or not showing is from our old style. Scores, however, do not reveal the important features. The written review that accompanies the ratings is the best source of information regarding the music on our site. Reviewing is opinionated, not a qualitative science, so scores are personal to the reviewer and could reflect anything from being technically brilliant to gloriously cheesy fun.

Demos and independent releases get some slack since the bands are often spent broke supporting themselves and trying to improve. Major releases usually have big financial backing, so they may be judged by a heavier hand. All scores can be eventually adjusted up or down by comparison of subsequent releases by the same band. We attempt to keep biases out of reviews and be advocates of the consumer without the undo influence of any band, label, management, promoter, etc.

The best way to determine how much you may like certain music is to listen to it yourself.
Band
Trouble
Title
The Skull
Type
LP/EP
Company
Escapi Music
YOR
2006
Style
Doom/Stoner
11/30/2007 - Review by: Vinaya Saksena
Trouble - The Skull - 2006 (reissue) - Escapi Music Group

Track Listing:
Track list
1. Pray For The Dead
2. Fear No Evil
3. The Wish
4. Truth Is, What Is
5. Wickedness of Man
6. Gideon
7. The Skull

Bonus DVD – “Captured Live At Malos” in Aurora, IL - 11/10/1984
1. Bastards Will Pay
2. Fear No Evil
3. Truth Is / What Is
4. Revelation (Life Or Death)
5. Psalm 9
6. The Last Judgment
7. Assassin
8. Pray For The Dead
9. Heart Full Of Soul (Yardbirds cover)
10. Endtime
11. Run To The Light
12. The Tempter
13. Wickedness Of Man
14. The Skull
15. Children Of The Grave (Black Sabbath cover)
16. Tales Of Brave Ulysses
Trouble: The Skull (Escapi Music, 2006)

I must admit that I am relatively new the twisted world of these Chicago-based sludge pioneers, and The Skull was actually the first Trouble album I heard at a stretch, due in part to this nifty reissue campaign by Escapi. I was perusing one of my usual record store haunts when the lazy indie-rock crappola that usually monopolizes the store’s stereo was suddenly replaced by a huge, dark, monster-riffed sound. This, however, was even more hopelessly demented and ugly than the legendary Sabbath, with even uglier, sludgier tones topped by one of the most desperate sounding and downright deformed singing voices I’d ever heard. Wondering what the hell this was, I asked the store clerk, who responded that this was indeed The Skull, which had recently been reissued by Escapi.

Trouble were viewed by many as part of the “white metal” or Christian metal” movement, despite the fact that the band never really claimed allegiance to this cause, and despite that most evil-sounding collection of sounds contained within this album’s ghoulish yet eye-catching psychedelic album sleeve (which looks great on the reissue’s slip case, by the way). Many consider this album to be a notch below the band’s destructive debut album idea-wise, and while I do agree that it drags a bit in comparison, it does boast a couple of things that the debut did not have. First, the production, at least to my ears, was slightly improved- a bit smoothed out, but not enough to interfere with the six string sludge factory so capably run by Bruce Franklin and Rick Wartell. Sure, “Fear No Evil” may have sounded dangerously close to being a rehash of the debut’s “Assassin,” but it’s not an outright rip-off by any means, and hey, it was a song type worth revisiting once at any rate. Plus, the title track is one of those harrowing, bulldozing epics that earned the band their esteem, and rightly so considering all the slow-burning doom and gloom that has oozed forth since.

Once again, we get a live DVD as a bonus with this reissue, as was the case with the band’s debut. Unfortunately, how much of a bonus this DVD amounts to is debatable, to put it kindly, as it is basically bush-league audience camera work with serviceable sound, mediocre image quality, and of course lack of close-ups or other varied shots. On the plus side, however, this reissue does appear to include the full track listing of the bonus DVD on the sleeve, which the debut did not despite its far superior bonus disc. Note: My slightly lower rating here reflects mainly on the poor quality of the DVD footage, not the music itself.




Rating: 3.5



--Vinaya
  • 1 :REVIEW COUNT
    3.5 :AVE RATING

ALL REVIEWS FOR: TROUBLE
TITLE
DOR
COMPANY
REVIEWER DATE MADE RATING
Psalm 9
2006
Escapi Music
Vinaya Saksena11/30/2007
4
The Skull
2006
Escapi Music
Vinaya Saksena11/30/2007
3.5

ALL INTERVIEWS FOR: TROUBLE
INTERVIEW INTERVIEWER DATE TAGLINE


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