There are some bands that just their sound settings are enough to give you a mental delirium. For me one of these bands is COLOUR HAZE whose “Periscope”, “Tempel” and “Colour Haze” are at least genre defining moments, if not a golden guide as to how psychedelic stoner should be played. 2012’s “She Said” also showed me new ways of musical perception, yet (I think) it was generally critiqued for being a bit too long or if you’d like a bit too structurally loose.
The German power trio answers to those claims with “To The Highest Gods We Know”. Come on, admit it, we were all already licking our lips the moment this title and this AMAZING artwork were published. Running under 50 minutes, although it can’t reach the majesty of the aforementioned records, “To The Highest Gods We know” fulfills any expectation you may have from a COLOUR HAZE album. The absolute testimony to this is my favorite track of the album and quite possibly one of the best they’ve ever written, “Uberall”.
Man, there are only a handful of bands that can create such a build up and then explode in such a riff. They’ve done it before and they did it again. You get lost for over 6 minutes, following the trail they unfold in your mind, tangled yet very clear and soothing, and suddenly, out of nowhere comes that final riff to break your goddamn neck and make you wish it lasted for 5-6 more minutes. Let’s not monopolize the interest in only that song, because “Call” follows up and doesn’t give you much breathing space. It’s the COLOUR HAZE formula we love, like in “Mountain” or “Aquamaria”, where the meditation precedes the full on stoner/psychedelic blues explosion. Bass and drums are locked tight in an inexplicably tight bondage, thus allowing Mr. Koglek work his mind melting wonders.
Up to this point, things have been significantly tighter and more compact than “She Said” and this is the perfect point for COLOUR HAZE to laugh in your face for thinking the surprises were over. The same titled track is perhaps the most experimental moment of their career, with a gloomy Mississippi blues guitar moaning over Middle- Eastern effects and melodies. The violin comes as the icing to the cake, making this track seem more like a film score for an odyssey in a scorching hot desert.
So delve into your thoughts, travel, fly and meditate. Because one of the most criminally underrated bands of rock in general is back and they pray to the highest gods they know: Blues, ambience, krautrock, psychedelia, guitar power and love, brother and sisters.
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