RESURRECTIONS
Unearthing the latest metal reissues
Trouble patiently await their doom
FAR BEYOND SEMINAL and still indecently thrilling more than 30 years on, TROUBLE’s early albums are more worthy of reassessment than most. Noble folk have reissued four of their first five – Psalm 9, The Skull, Trouble and Manic Frustration (Hammerheart) [all 9] – and they just happen to be four of the greatest heavy metal albums of all time. Although they were soon joined by Saint Vitus, Candlemass and many others, 1984’s Psalm 9 and 1985’s The Skull were unprecedented acts of metal heroism and flawless blueprints for the truest of doom. The band’s evolution from Sabbathian purists to psychedelic explorers was seamless and mesmerising, too; 1990’s self-titled effort is a riot of electrified, swaggering songcraft, while 1992s’s Manic Frustration repeated the trick, but with a gob full of magic mushrooms. All four are utterly essential and back on vinyl, where they belong.