Am I Trouble is the solo project of Steve Weiner, who is also behind the project Negative Bliss, which put out an EP that I reviewed late last year. While it is a solo project, where Steve recorded all of the lead vocals, guitars, bass, keyboards, and probably most other sounds you’ll hear, he did have several guest musicians contribute on certain tracks.
According to Am I Trouble, the debut album, Spectrum, is defined as “An erratic journey through colorful black corners of metal”. I’m not sure I can describe it more succinctly or accurately than that. Spectrum is an incredible debut that offers a unique take on the Black Metal subgenre. It does so by paying homage to 90’s era avant-garde black metal, while also including a variety of unexpected musical elements, each of which elicits a specific feeling that can easily be connected to their assigned color. The album starts with lighter colors and works it’s way towards darker colors, and as it does so, the music becomes more and more aggressive. It’s a very interesting concept that is executed very well.
Lets move onto the tracks:
Yellow – If you’re familiar with my reviews or the Harsh Vocals podcast, you know I usually loathe intro tracks, especially if they’re excessively long or don’t go anywhere. Steve must be listening, because while he did include an intro track, it’s only slightly longer than a minute. Yellow is a soft, beautiful Instrumental arrangement that makes me feel like I’m relaxing in a meadow full of dandelions. It does an exceptional job of bringing out a peaceful and happy sort of feeling, which is easily correlated to yellow. Ember Belladonna provides gorgeous flute music here which continues into the next track, White, allowing the progression of the sound to organically happen. This is how all intro tracks should be.
White – This track is brimming with prog-rock infused guitar work, and a well balanced mixture of harmonious clean vocals and harsh black metal screams. It’s a song that wants to elicit self-reflection and a longing to return to a more peaceful state. That can’t happen though, as the peace experienced in Yellow is quickly overshadowed by the aggression in the next track.
Pink – While this track begins with a soft melody, it quickly explodes into furious guitarwork and savage black metal screams. This is my favorite track on the album. It has hooky guitars, the harsh vocals are at the forefront, and the cleans are positioned mostly as a background choir throughout. Jonathan Hernandez (from Negative Bliss) provides backing harsh vocals on this track, and add another layer of incredible depth. Emotionally, pink seems to be about the struggle of life and relationships, and trying to fit into every role that’s demanded of you.
Red – The aggression continues to escalate, and it’s very clear that the emotion behind this track is frustration. Red is the most avant-garde track on the album, and hence difficult to describe. There’s progressive guitarwork, punctuated drums, various melodies and vocal styles throughout. In short, it’s a very complex song that rewards the listener with new moments to appreciate every time it’s heard.
Blue – The way this track opens reminds me of being an 80’s kid playing Mega Man for the first time. It’s very fast-paced, exciting, and fun. That said, it’s much deeper than the first few sections. While it is an instrumental, with guest guitarwork provided by Paul Shyrock (also from Negative Bliss), it’s probably my second favorite track on the album. Typically I don’t love instrumentals unless they’re intros or outros, but this is well placed, and does an amazing job of reminding the listener that despite how terrible life can be, there are fun and worthwhile moments, and we should take the time to appreciate them when they appear.
Black – Unsurprisingly, the emotion felt within the track titled Black is despair. Happiness doesn’t last forever, and inevitably, reality and the negative emotions we experience regularly will return. Steve pours his heart into the emotionally devastating cleans here, while guest vocalist Alex Loach (Ashenheart), contributes his uniquely vicious black metal screech which adds a lot of flavor to the track. Black is one of the most experimental tracks on the album, but also the closest to that classic black metal sound.
Green – We come full circle with this track, with another slightly-longer-than-a-minute outro track, that again features Ember Belladonna’s beautiful flute work. Green seeks to return our emotions to a peaceful state. This track feels like relaxing on a lush, green hillside, watching the clouds roll by. It’s gorgeous and calming.
Overall, Spectrum is a stellar debut that takes the listener on a journey through colors and emotions. It’s a fantastic example of not only Steve Weiner’s writing ability, but also his capability with a wide range of instruments, and his strength in paying homage to what he loves, without copying it. I’m thoroughly impressed with Spectrum, and if you like black metal that’s unafraid to try new things, I think you will be too. I hope that you will check it out and support the project if able.
Support the band at the links below:
https://amiintrouble.bandcamp.com
https://amiintrouble.ampwall.com
VInyl Release on 2/28 – https://www.bolverkcollective.com/amiintrouble
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