Trouble is an American doom metal band from Aurora, Illinois, formed in 1979. They are often considered one of the pioneers of doom metal, and have been referred to as one of the genre's "big four" alongside Candlemass, Pentagram and Saint Vitus. The band created a distinct style, taking influences of the British heavy metal bands Black Sabbath and Judas Priest, and psychedelic rock of the 1970s. Trouble's first two albums, Psalm 9 and The Skull, are cited as landmarks of doom metal. To date, they have released eight studio albums. Although never officially disbanded, they went inactive after original singer Eric Wagner left in 1997. He rejoined in 2000 and left again eight years later; he was first replaced by Kory Clarke and then by current vocalist Kyle Thomas, who had also filled in for Wagner during his initial absence from Trouble. Wagner died in 2021. Core members include Wagner, guitarists Rick Wartell and Bruce Franklin, and drummer Jeff Olson. Early lyrics had a spiritual nature; Metal Blade Records initially marketed Trouble as "white metal" (in contrast to the rising black metal movement) in the 1980s. Biography Formation and Metal Blade years (1979–1988) Trouble was formed in 1979 by Rick Wartell and was joined by guitarist Bruce Franklin, vocalist Eric Wagner, bassist Tim Ian Brown (not to be confused with lead singer of English band The Stone Roses), and drummer Jeff Olson. Ian Brown was replaced by Sean McAllister in 1983. Drawing from Black Sabbath for inspiration (with occasional nods to the psychedelic sounds of the late 1960s), the band used gloomy down-tuned riffs and spiritual, often openly Bible-inspired lyrics, which led Metal Blade to market the band as "white metal" as opposed to black metal. "I was brought up Catholic", vocalist and primary lyric writer Wagner explains in the liner notes of Psalm 9 re-issue (2006), "but you have to remember, back in the early 1980s, all the metal was kind of satanic, and I did not get into that vibe." Wagner has implied that Metal Blade came up with the term in the first place, which the band rejected: "I think it was more like Metal Blade trying to be cute or something, with everything [satanic metal] being called black metal, why not call us white metal, which is a bunch of crap." The band toured throughout the Midwest during the early 1980s. On February 5, 1983,