Eric Wagner — founding vocalist of doom metal pioneers Trouble, and more recently, the Skull — has died. Wagner was hospitalized due to COVID-19 complications last week (August 16), with the Skull confirming the artist's passing today. He was 62.
"We all are devastated and in shock. We lost a band mate, friend, and brother," the Skull wrote in sharing news of Wagner's passing. "We will make a statement once we get more info and come to terms with this."
Wagner formed Trouble in 1979, and would release a 1984 eponymous debut (later renamed Psalm 9) and 1985 sophomore LP The Skull that would come to be cited as landmark doom metal releases.
Upon Trouble's debut, early label home Metal Blade Records marketed the group was "white metal," as their down-tuned riffs and spiritual, Bible-inspired lyrics stood in contrast to the music and messages of black metal.
"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," Wagner would write of the descriptor in liner notes for a 2006 reissue of Psalm 9. "I was brought up Catholic. 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 would release four more albums with Trouble, ahead of departing the group following the release of 1995's Plastic Green Head. He would briefly return to deliver a final album with the group, 2007's Simple Mind Condition, ahead of leaving once more in 2008.
Outside of Trouble, Wagner would form band Lid with Anathema's Danny Cavanagh, releasing lone album In the Mushroom in 1997. In 2004, he was a guest vocalist on Dave Grohl's Probot album, performing "My Tortured Soul."
Wagner would record and perform with the Skull and Blackfinger in the 2010s, releasing two albums with each group. With the former band, he sang on 2014's For Those Which Are Asleep and 2018's The Endless Road Turns Dark, while delivering a 2014 self-titled LP and 2017's When Colors Fade Away with the latter.
"We all are devastated and in shock. We lost a band mate, friend, and brother," the Skull wrote in sharing news of Wagner's passing. "We will make a statement once we get more info and come to terms with this."
Wagner formed Trouble in 1979, and would release a 1984 eponymous debut (later renamed Psalm 9) and 1985 sophomore LP The Skull that would come to be cited as landmark doom metal releases.
Upon Trouble's debut, early label home Metal Blade Records marketed the group was "white metal," as their down-tuned riffs and spiritual, Bible-inspired lyrics stood in contrast to the music and messages of black metal.
"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," Wagner would write of the descriptor in liner notes for a 2006 reissue of Psalm 9. "I was brought up Catholic. 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 would release four more albums with Trouble, ahead of departing the group following the release of 1995's Plastic Green Head. He would briefly return to deliver a final album with the group, 2007's Simple Mind Condition, ahead of leaving once more in 2008.
Outside of Trouble, Wagner would form band Lid with Anathema's Danny Cavanagh, releasing lone album In the Mushroom in 1997. In 2004, he was a guest vocalist on Dave Grohl's Probot album, performing "My Tortured Soul."
Wagner would record and perform with the Skull and Blackfinger in the 2010s, releasing two albums with each group. With the former band, he sang on 2014's For Those Which Are Asleep and 2018's The Endless Road Turns Dark, while delivering a 2014 self-titled LP and 2017's When Colors Fade Away with the latter.