- -- Release information ----------------------------------------------- -- -
Artist : Colour Haze
Album : To The Highest Gods We Know
Genre : Rock
Year : 2015
Label : Elektrohasch Schallplatten
Cat# : Elektrohasch 010
Source : Vinyl
Bitrate : VBRKbps
Size : 56,0 MB
Runtime : 39:59 min
URL : n/a
- -- Tracklist -------------------------------------------------------- -- -
01. Circles 08:08
02. Paradise 03:45
03. Uberall 08:14
04. Call 08:01
05. To The Highest Gods We Know 11:51
- -- Release notes ---------------------------------------------------- -- -
Similar to the first signs of spring, To The Highest Gods We
Know, Colour Hazes first album since 2012, materialized out
of nowhere without warning or expectation. With a sleepy
sense of laziness, the album unfolds and plays out
beautifully like a black bear waking up from hibernation. It
starts out slow, radiating like the first sunbeams of the
morning, bringing familiar warmth with them as a new season
begins. Throughout its running time, the album breathes and
lives with a slow cooking energy that is both strong and
nimble. With ôTo The Highest Gods We Know,ö the band has once
again served up a platter of ethereal beauty wrapped in
gorgeous, lush tones taken straight from Mother Natures
soundtrack.
The album opens with two songs that stand across from each
other like night and day. Circles, the first song of
praise, is heavy and builds slowly; inch by inch, barely
breaking free in its mid-section before returning to the
slow trudge that began the song. Potentially, this structure
leaves the listener with the feeling that the song doesnÆt
actually go anywhere but due to its meditative nature, it
doesnÆt need to. As its counterpart, Paradise breaks the
meditation with its upbeat tempo and traditional structure of
verses feeding themselves to choruses as the band drives the
song down to the beach. In both songs, Koglek stands in front
of the mix as a lead singer, seemingly more comfortable than
ever to do so, using his raspy, German accent to gently call
praise to the highest gods he knows.
For those in the know, when word made it down the line that a
new Colour Haze album was to appear, Uberall was released
in the form of a video taken from the bands most recent
performance at DunaJam. It came across as a song that would
have found a comfortable home on any one of their albums but
with a fresh vibe. This video showed Koglek, Rasthofer, and
Merwald jamming together in a state of bliss, blasting the
sandy beaches and the lone dancer with sounds of jubilation
and spiritual freedom. Watching that girl spin around in
circles with her arms raised up high in the air confirmed
that Colour Haze had not lost their psychedelic prowess and
let us know that they, too, wanted to bring out a new album.
With every new Colour Haze album comes a little bit of
experimentation and the first example of that here is Call,
an eerie but gentle piece of music with nothing more than a
lone guitar and Koglek secretly borrowing a trick or two from
Mark Lanegan. The song feels like an evening of foreplay with
a beautiful girl whose mission it is to challenge the weak
and reward the strong. Every time a step is made for the song
to break free, it doesnt, and the lady remains clad. Ok,
cool trick, but then itll be a sure thing that the levee
will break at the next repetition, or the next. But no. If
bets have been placed for a third-timeÆs-a-charm rock out,
then too bad, the dealer wins. Instead, the song appears to
come to a complete close without any sign of the rest of the
band. But then out of nowhere, the tension is broken, the
girl drops her robe, and the band breaks into a traditional
Colour Haze jam, albeit very shortly, making ôCallö an
experiment with dazzling results.
The last track on the album is the title track and it might
leave some confused. It is a song in which acoustic guitars
and violins play cat and mouse with each other. The acoustic
guitar, playing the role of the mouse, is playful,
stylistically somewhere between flamenco and the Far East,
dancing around without a care in the world. The violins hide
in the background for most of the song, letting their
presence be known but not yet coming out for the kill until
close to the end, once the mouse has worn himself out. It is
an interesting attempt at pitting these stringed instruments
against each other, however this experiment is perhaps
misplaced as the albums closer.
Since the late 90s, Colour Haze have been a force to be
reckoned with, within the European stoner rock circuit,
churning out album after album, each one a masterpiece in
itÆs own right. Their guitar tone is so recognizable,
sounding gentle and thick all at once. The bass is swampy,
hanging right in the sweet spot of the low end, and the
drumming is always fantastic, holding a groove while
simultaneously filling out the music with manic precision.
Whether the band is up on stage nonchalantly kicking ass or
their records are spinning on a turntable, Colour Haze is one
of few bands that has consistently produced music of quality
and integrity. ôTo The Highest Gods We Knowö is no different.
Though this album may not fully exemplify the band due to its
short running time, it is an album that will stand proudly as
the latest addition to the Colour Haze discography.
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