Colour Haze

To the Highest Gods We Know

Written by: BV on 07/02/2015 17:39:24

I’ve been a fan of the German underground heroes Colour Haze on and off for at least half a decade or so, maybe even a full decade. At times, I find their albums to be a never-ending resource of enjoyment whilst I, at other times, find them painstakingly similar to each other with very little progression signifying the next release. Recently I’ve come to terms with it, realizing that Colour Haze have created their trademark sound and that each new releases only offers new variations of the same fundamental form of songwriting. What seems to matter most, is a hypnotic instrumental groove to which you can completely lose yourself whilst it is playing.

To that end, one could argue that their latest effort, “To the Highest Gods We Know”, is highly successful. Following their trademark formula, the album opens with the slow-burning groove of “Circles”. Developing just like the Colour Haze most people familiar with them know and love, it’s a nice surprise to hear that it is one of those semi-rare tracks from their hands with vocals on them. Although sparse, the vocals do add an entirely new dimension to track which makes it resonate that much better with the very core of the listener – providing something to focus on before letting everything go as the groove takes over. Despite being skilled musicians, it is amazing to hear how little it actually takes for a Colour Haze to be at its very best – one guitar, one bass, the drums and a sparse vocal setup all channeled into a simple, droning stoner-reminiscent groove and you’ve essentially got the very best of Colour Haze.

The combination of the two tracks “Call” and “To the Highest Gods We Know” proves to be the most riveting segment of music on the album as the alluring drone turned bombastic stoner-rock onslaught of the former slowly segues into the acoustic-soon-to-be-monolithic desert wanderings of the latter. “To the Highest Gods We Know” is no picnic to get through, as it quite truthfully sounds like the soundtrack to wandering an endless desert; however, when it enters 4-minute mark or so it slowly develops into something else entirely – as if the journey is now fruitful and civilization can be seen at the edge of the horizon. It’s a rewarding musical journey, but listeners with low attention spans will likely give up along the way.

Although “To the Highest Gods We Know” is not entirely on par with “All”, which I deem to be the band’s defining album, it is one that I will most likely hold in very high esteem for the time being – it might even end up being one of those I’ll frequently return to as time moves forward. For the time being, I’ll stick to calling it Colour Haze’s best album in the last few years.

Download: Circles, Call, To the Highest Gods We Know
For the fans of: Causa Sui, My Sleeping Karma, Sungrazer
Listen: Facebook

Release date 23.12.2014
Elektrohasch


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