Its soooooooo beautiful........*starry eyes

Colour Haze-Self Titled-2004
Psychedelic, stoner, instrumental, fuzz.


















I'm quite surprised its took me this long to post this band. Colour Haze are top of my lastfm bands and "Love"(a song of this album) is my top played song. A band formed in the mid 90s but did not create anything truely excellent until 1999s "Periscope" from which they had the lineup they current have. This self titled album released in 2004 is the bands 7th album, with "Los Sounds de Krauts", CO2" and "Tempel" this album shows what has kept them making music whilst others around have abandoned there post. Starting from an agressive Sabbath influenced sound in their earlier albums to a more melodic and gentler sound; the band have been evolving and tweaking their sound. This is very evident on the most recent release "All", which is inspired by Indian classical music, featuring traditional arrangements and instruments (sitar)-they've come a long way.

Lead by the teutonic Stefan Koglek, Colour Haze are a power trio after the likes of cream, with Manni Merwald on drums and Phillip Rasthofer heavy on the bass. The feel is reminiscent of 70s acid rock but it in no way feels retro or dated unlike many bands with a similar style.
The understanding and fluidity between the band is immense and plays a huge part in their music; whether in the controlled subtler parts, where the individual parts feels natural and deft or the more frantic swirling sections where its only the skill and harmony of the band that allows them to create what they do.

The album starts with "Mountain" a CH classic and fairy typical of what to expect from their material, with a slow build up to a frenzied, epic jam to finish. "Tao Nr.43" is a harder song with more aggressive vocals and sound. "Did êl it" is a minute and a bit of light fuzz, with a catching peak 2nd time round.....you'll see. The pinnacle of the album is "Love", a 9 minute epic which takes half of that to get to the heavier stuff, however the build up is brooding but measured. The song is one of their most beautiful and powerful, by the time it gets to the seismic climax, with the longing guitar over dense driving fuzz, a listener (if they aren't a robot) should be hooked. "Solitude" gives a welcome quieter melancholic moment before the 22 minute beast "Peace, Brothers & Sisters!" which should speak for itself. The album closes on a great note with "Flowers" a more poignant affair which is a superb ending a an excellent album.

Colour Haze s/t is one of the best heavy psychedelic albums made, its invigoratingly aggressive and yet sumptuously peaceful, a hard mix to blend smoothly-but that's exactly what it does. They maybe didn't the most original start to their existence (as with many post Kyuss bands) but the band have found a unique and exciting sound and are constantly trying to push their sound to match their ethos. There are quite a few bands in the same genre but few in the same league as Colour Haze. More to come from these guys.
If you like this check out any of their labelmates, or Cream and alike bands. Please support this band by buying their albums and seeing them live.
jamscoopa

Please buy from:
UK
US
Allthatisheavy
Elektrohasch
and many more.
Or please delete after 24 hours:
Haze (320kbs)