Colour Haze

Founded in 1994, Colour Haze are a contemporary three-piece German stoner/psychedelic rock band, at least in the literal sense. The band's current lineup includes Stefan Koglek (vocals/guitar), Manfred Merwald (drums) and Philipp Rasthofer (bass). Hailing from Munich, they follow in the tradition of other classic rock trios such as Cream, Grand Funk Railroad and The Jimi Hendrix Experience.

The band's line-up has been restructured since the their inception, but has remained steady since May of 1999. Since then, the band has released six studio albums and has amassed a large international following. They have toured extensively within Germany, and frequently perform in and around Belgium, Holland and Austria.

Initially, the band seemed to be strongly influenced by the sounds of Black Sabbath - perhaps most notably in their 1999 album, titled Periscope. This style later evolved into an unmistakably dry, bass-laden soundscape. Characteristic of this phase is Kogleks' continual guitar playing between trance-like bass rhythms. The albums Ewige Blumenkraft and Los Sounds De Krauts allowed the band to further develop this style with longer, more complex song structures, and increasingly strong jam and jazz elements.

The results of these experiments were, in part, ridiculously long, complex, and self-referential 20-minute songs - culminating in their seminal self-titled album, Colour Haze, which was released in 2004. On their follow-up LP, Tempel, the three continued to work with their innovative take on drone-based stoner rock. Even temporary arrangements within their experimental albums evolved into potent and complex arrangements, which for the most part were still jazz-based. With their more recent albums, however, Colour Haze have also effectively melded the sounds of world music into their style.

Discography

1995 - Chopping Machine
1998 - Seven
1999 - Periscope
2000 - CO2
2001 - Ewige Blumenkraft
2003 - Los Sounds de Krauts
2004 - Colour Haze
2006 - Tempel
2008 - All