Ex-TROUBLE Singer ERIC WAGNER's Solo Album, 'In The Lonely Light Of Mourning', To Receive Posthumous Release In March
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Cruz Del Sur Music will release legendary former TROUBLE singer Eric Wagner's posthumous solo album, "In The Lonely Light Of Mourning", in March 2022.
Recorded at Alpha Sound Services and Aardvark Recording, "In The Lonely Light Of Mourning" was completed and delivered to Cruz Del Sur Music a month before Eric's untimely passing. Initially scheduled for a November 2021 release, Cruz Del Sur Music — in cooperation with Eric's manager, Mike Smith — agreed to move the release date to March 2022 to give it the attention it deserves.
"It has been a great honor to have the chance to work with Eric," says Cruz Del Sur Music owner Enrico Leccese. "He has been a reference in my life since, as a fan, I bought his TROUBLE albums back in the 1980s. I must give WHILE HEAVEN WEPT's Tom Phillips 100 percent credit for Cruz Del Sur Music being able to release Eric's solo album. Eric really put all himself, his passion, his deepest emotions and his skills into this release. I must also thank Mike and Ron Holzner for the extremely mature talk we had after Eric's passing. His loss has been a tragic event and we hope that this album gives justice to his career."
The solo endeavor — a longtime goal of Eric's — serves as a fitting testament to one of doom metal's most respected voices. Eric tapped former TROUBLE/current BLACKFINGER drummer David Snyder to help him assemble the album's eight cuts. Along the way, Eric brought in some of his favorite musicians as guests — including past and present members of TROUBLE, BLACKFINGER, THE SKULL, LID, PENTAGRAM, DEATH ROW and PLACE OF SKULLS.
"In The Lonely Light Of Mourning" travels down Eric's hallowed, familiar doom roads, flanked by melancholic acoustic guitar arrangements. It makes for an album of color, depth and heaviness that will please fans of Eric's work. "I'd say this album is an amalgamation of TROUBLE, BLACKFINGER, LID and THE SKULL," says Phillips. "There's a little bit of each all swirled together. Basically, there's a little something for everyone!"
"He was excited about the songs," adds Snyder. "He and I worked on this project for a little over four years. It took that long, mostly because we did it over the phone. Either he would be in Chicago or New Mexico, and I'm in West Virginia, so I'd send him demo riffs, and if he liked something, he'd give me arrangement ideas, and I'd re-demo to fit his vision to place the lyrics. I already miss the process of working with him! Before Eric left for the last THE SKULL tour this summer, he told me about the record and said, 'It jams. I'm turning it into Cruz.'"
Smith says that if Eric was ever going to do a solo record, it would need to involve the people he's worked with — and some he hasn't. The wealth of guest musicians explains why he was particularly excited about having a "family reunion" that tapped into nearly every era of his storied career.
"We have guests representing every band Eric has worked with over the years, and even extended family member Victor Griffin, which really brings things full circle," says Smith. "This was not the original plan by any means, but as the process started to unfold, it became apparent that this was exactly how it should be. How it was meant to be."
Eric's THE SKULL and former TROUBLE bandmate Ron Holzner, guests on the album. Ron says "In The Lonely Light Of Mourning" was "more personal" to him than his BLACKFINGER and LID output, two albums that enabled the frontman to work outside of the boundaries of TROUBLE.
"The LID record [1997's 'In The Mushroom'] was a break from TROUBLE and his first tastes of freedom. The BLACKFINGER records were more of a sideband to express himself differently than THE SKULL. It's been a long journey lyrically for Eric and his story was coming towards the end. He sensed his time was short. The new record was his career coming full circle, in a sense. He included musicians from all his records and never intended this record to be a band. It was more a solo record than anything he ever did before. He needed to share his journey since this record was to be the end — he was contemplating retirement. The new THE SKULL record would be the epitaph to his story."
"In The Lonely Light Of Mourning" track listing:01. Rest In Place
02. Maybe Tomorrow
03. Isolation
04. If You Lost It All
05. Strain Theory
06. Walk With Me To The Sun
07. In The Lonely Light Of Mourning
08. Wish You Well
(Source: www.blabbermouth.net)
