Thanks to Matt for letting me guest on his baby this week. His idea for this column is pure genius, and I am stoked that he lends his sharp skills to SRG each week. Matt is recovering from some minor surgery, so lets all wish him a speedy recovery so he can get back to the metal asap.
Colour Haze - Periscope
(1999 - Toaster Records)
In the spirit of this column, I discovered Colour Haze’s “Periscope” while sifting through the glorious metal vinyl section at Capitol Hill’s Zion Gate. Seattle's Zion’s Gate is a great independent record store, that specializes in mostly underground genres of music such as metal, reggae, techno etc. I have found some truly awesome treasures there over the years including my copy of Tad’s Inhaler and of course the record being spotlighted today.
Colour Haze is a psychedelic/stoner rock band from Munich Germany; they have been making awesomely groovy and tripped out music since 1994. In my opinion, 1999’s “Periscope” is their finest record to date, as it best conveys the signature sound that they are known for today. Their first two records were more on the experimental and complex side, where as “Periscope” is instead a simplified blissful menagerie of Kyuss, Black Sabbath, and Pink Floyd. Actually, you'd think Colour Haze was born in the Californian desert due to the guitar tones on "Periscope". They're an uncanny likeness to Josh Homme's signature sound of old. For that reason this record sits beside Kyuss' "Welcome to Sky Valley" as a defining moment in pure desert stoner rock awesomeness, it just so happens they hail from Deutschland instead and the record came out 5 years later but who's counting.
The songs on this record are undoubtedly heavy, but in rule breaking fashion – beautiful as well. From the beginning bass rumble and huge fuzz of “Always Me” to the driving rocker “Pulse” to the jazzier “Sun” expect to fall in love with this record if you are someone who enjoys intense groove and supersized stoney riffage in your rock. The vocals are minimal at best, taking a back seat to the monstrosity of sound etched between its grooves. "Periscope" is also heavy on the prog as well. The 9.5 minute “Antenna” builds from ambient beginnings to mammoth climax, while “Transmitter”, clocking in at 12 minutes, brings the record to a blazing and epic stoner jam session close. Colour Haze’s “Periscope” is the perfect combination of all that’s heavy and good in music, and the fact that a trio makes this magnificent noise is even more mind blowing.
There are certain albums possibly even certain genres of music that were meant to be pressed on vinyl and played on a turntable. While not possessing audiophile ears beyond good taste in music, what I do know is that the warm tones of records by heavy bands like Sabbath, Melvins, Kyuss, as well as Colour Haze's "Periscope" sound unbelievable on the medium.
On a German side note: Just saw "Inglorious Basterds" last weekend. Fucking stupendous, watched it twice. See it now!
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