On November 18, 2008, Trouble announced, via their website, that they were in the process of writing songs for an album that would likely be released in the summer of 2009. A live bootleg recording featuring the new line-up was released via the band's website in 2008, then worldwide by Escapi Music about one year later. On March 4, 2009, Trouble revealed on their website that the new album would tentatively be called The Dark Riff. On September 9, 2010, the band announced that they are "getting ready for the studio now. [We] have been making preliminary recordings and working out things to bring the best possible Trouble release." Bruce Franklin later said in a 2009 interview that The Dark Riff would not be the title of the forthcoming album. In February 2012, Kory Clarke left Trouble. Kyle Thomas, who was with the band from 1997 to 2000, took his place. Also in February 2012, two original members of Trouble — vocalist Eric Wagner and drummer Jeff Olson — joined forces with the band's longtime bassist Ron Holzner in a new heavy rock/doom metal act called The Skull. According to a statement on the band's Facebook page, "The Skull is here to do one thing... rock you with the sounds and spirit of Trouble — past, present, future. The Skull did a thirty-year celebration tour of Trouble's debut album, Psalm 9, in 2014. On February 16, 2013, Jeff Olson announced that he would be playing some keyboard intros on the new album. In May 2013, it was announced that the new album, The Distortion Field, was scheduled to be released July 16 in North America and July 26 in Europe. This is the first release to feature Kyle Thomas and was produced by Bill Metoyer. Shortly after its release, Rob Hultz of Solace and Godspeed joined the band as a bassist. In 2014, Wartell announced that Trouble had begun working on new material for the follow-up to The Distortion Field. No news or progress on the album had been reported until July 2022, when the band entered the studio to start recording it. Original Trouble singer Eric Wagner died of complications from COVID-19 on August 22, 2021 at the age of 62. Music and image Trouble's music lies with a traditional doom metal style, although their albums since the 1990s Trouble showcase a more stoner-metal oriented style. Band members have