Colour Haze are a German stoner and heavy psychedelic rock outfit with an absolutely massive body of work, both in sound and in volume. Their music typically gives a sense of universal, isolated oneness, and taps lyrically into gentle concepts such as love, uncompromising determination, and the dangers of ignorance and hatred, among others. The tunes may seem barren to the average newcomer listener, but eventually, with some focus put towards the actual song-structure and sonic intention, one will realize that this minimalist, stripped-down, ethereal rock ambience is meant to be somewhat understated, at least until the song builds to it’s necessary climax. One of the best examples of the mantra, “sometimes less is more”.
Their 2008 released “All” follows these guidelines to a T, while also setting itself apart from the rest of Colour Haze’s library with an increased density of digital effects and psychedelic atmosphere. Featured here is some of the most genius guitar playing Stefan has ever put to record, with more reckless deliberation and seamless flow than many past endeavors. The record as a whole has a brilliant sense of gradual dynamics signature to the groups sound, and when things get heavy, they get HEAVY, but all while retaining the pace of the progression and melody. Phillip and Manfred on bass and drums, as per usual, add an ever-present, steam-powered chugging pace to much of the music, with excellent versatility being displayed on both accounts, Manfred especially showing off more lavishly executed fills and articulate beats to accentuate the mountains and valleys of Stefan’s florally elegant guitar musings.
That’s not saying that this entire album is inaccessible. In fact, track number three, titled “Turns”, may very well be one of the most single worthy hits the band has ever accomplished, clocking in at a relatively short four minutes and four seconds, and featuring some of the most gorgeous sonic textures and heartwarming chord progressions the group has ever produced. The name of the track is incredibly appropriate as well, as the kinetic motion of the song certainly simulates a sort-of “turning”, or spiraling if you will.
“Moon” on the other hand, features both one of the heaviest grooves the band has ever displayed, and one of the most memorably catchy riffs ever concocted by Koglek and co. This song is immensely danceable, and is surely a hit during live performances, opening with the signature rhythmic guitar neck-tapping by Stefan, and building steady momentum off of that. The centerpiece of the album is also definitely worth mentioning, being the title track and all (see what I did there?). Starting at an absolute standstill, the track is perhaps one of Colour Haze’s finest songs in terms of simulating a self-contained adventure within its fairly long runtime. For practically the first four minutes, the song has a nonexistent tempo, simply providing pace for Stefan to weave ambient, beautifully simple guitar passages that almost mechanically resemble the way a sitar is played.
I would say that the above mentioned tracks are the highlights, but that would detract from the rest of the albums genius. As with many other Colour Haze albums, I simply cannot find a single song on this thing that falls short of stoned, psychedelic mastery. This band is forming an absolute musical revolution right under the noses of the mainstream, and rightfully so, as many folks that would find this boring have absolutely atrocious music tastes anyway. That thankfully doesn’t mean this band doesn’t get IMMENSE love from genuine music enthusiasts all across the world, and also thankfully, this is FAR from the only masterpiece this band of smart-ass German stoners have cooked up for the general public.
9.2/10
