The Distortion Field

Trouble 'The Distortion Field'

    Trouble is a band that hasn't crossed my mind in quite awhile. Certainly they're a notable band that I liked 'way back when'. They had their own sound, they stood out. They never were a favorite by any means, but when I read about there being a new CD out I was immediately interested. Moreso upon learning that vocal duties were being handled by former Exhorder vocalist Kyle Thomas.

    Exhorder was another notable band, 'The Law' spent a good deal of time in my cassette deck. They were pretty solid, never really a favorite either, but did hold my attention for a time. I never really bought into the whole Pantera rivalry though. They weren't anywhere close to being as good of a band as Pantera.

    Kyle Thomas has a much more powerful voice than long time Trouble vocalist Eric Wagner. Wagner may be the more distinct of the two, but his vocal stylings are among those qualities with no room for middle ground. You either love it or hate it with Wagner on the mic. That's not to say that Thomas isn't a tad reminiscant of him occassionally here either, he just doesn't have that same annoying quality which embodies Wagner's voice. I'm actually surprised that Thomas has been so far from being on the music radar (so far as I'm aware of. And really that's the only thing that counts on this here blog site.) with his set of pipes.

    Guitarists Bruce Franklin and Rick Wartell remain in the band. Trouble has always had a pretty badass guitar sound. The sound of Doom, if you will. The guitars perhaps sound better than ever. The band is really good, but many of the songs just aren't very memorable from the first listen. I really dig "Sucker", "One Life", and "Have I Told You", but I almost wish that they would have done a cover also because I know they'd really nail it. That said, I do recommend 'The Distortion Field' pretty highly. It has that 'Play it again, Sam' quality that a lot of classic albums possess.