Colour Haze- Sacred (Elektrohasch Records EH013)

CH are back with their first new studio album since 2019.  A lot has changed with the band since the last one. They no longer record in their own studio but are back recording with long time collaborator,  Willi Dammeier, in Hamburg. This album was recorded live in the studio and mixed in  the bands Studio by Stefan.  Anyway, it is a shorter 40min Lp with 7 tracks, 5 with vocals and 2 instrumentals.  The instrumental, Turquoise starts things off.  It does not take but a few seconds and that guitar tone and standard colour haze guitar riff appears!  A good opener. Goldmine has a really rough guitar tone and a riff rocker with a great message. 

Idealogigi is my favorite track on the album.. There is something that is just so special about it and the way the keyboards really work for me and the more free nature and a bit proggy. Avatar starts with some spacey synth sounds before the bass kicks in and off we go. It then kicks into what has become a sort of Colour Haze guitar riff sound but it is played with a different groove. The keyboard solo really stands out on this track. The same but different, eh??? 1.5 degrees is a short instrumental track with acoustic guitar and a dark mood. . And wait for the huge surprise at about 5mins wow!! That will catch you unexpected.. This is an utterly unique track in the Colour Haze catalog. See the Fools, with it´s potent lyrics is classic Colour Haze guitar riff but more melodic and the floating synths of Jan, mixed well into the album sound, create a new feel.  In all you Are, closes this album.. The best one for me since She Said..

What is new though is the way that keyboard player, Jan Faszbender is incorporate much more into the bands sound than ever before. This is a great step forward for the band.  This is also the first album with new bass player, Mario Oberpucher as a full time member (he did sound and played occasional sitar with the band).  Mario maintains that Philip sound (plays thru his old gear) very well, so no radical changes in the bass sound or style really. Some of Stefan´s best lyrics yet as well. Very relevant to the world we live in today. If you are a fan of the band, you will for sure dig this record. A nice progression for the band and fans, without changing their core sound too much. 

http://colourhaze.de