Phased, hailed as the "Hawkwind of doom" by some, is a band that plays psychedelic motor-doom. Theirs is a sound that is leaden and dark without falling for the usual clichés of the genre. They are a classic power trio with members from Sweden, Finland and Switzerland.
The history of Phased begins in 1997, when Chris Sigdell founded a group named “Phased 4°F”. This group consisted of five musicians with two bass players (sic). This early incarnation played spacey noise-rock. Since 2001, Phased are a trio. The band - including musicians Chris Sigdell, today's drummer Marko Lehtinen and founding member Michael Greilinger - recorded stoner/space-rock album "Music For Gentlemen" with VO Pulver (Gurd/Poltergeist) in early 2002. A year later it was released on CD by Lux-Noise Records Switzerland receiving good reviews from European magazines like "Rock Hard" and "Ox -Magazin".
Chris Walt then replaced Michael and during the following three years, the band played with bands such as Dozer or High On Fire. Stefan Koglek (Colour Haze) suggested their next release be on his own Elektrohasch label and so, in the spring of 2006, Phased recorded "Medications" - again at VO Pulver’s Little Creek studio in Gelterkinden. The result was a loud doom and stoner hybrid which was released on CD with worldwide distribution. This time, the album gained good reviews from all over the world - from Australia to Chile and Finland to Greece.
As a result Phased began to play more gigs abroad, especially in the eastern parts of Germany. In 2007 they played at the famous "Stoned From The Underground" festival in Erfurt Germany, and also had a slot at the "Mad Santa" festival Switzerland, together with Orange Goblin and others.
By January 2009 it was time for a new album - once again they recorded with VO Pulver. The sound had drifted towards slower and heavier sound, and American/Danish synthesizer player Scott Heller of Øresund Space Collective contributed some of his psychedelic wizardry... doom goes krautrock? Stefan Koglek liked the long-titled album "A Sort Of Spasmic Phlegm Induced By Leaden Fumes Of Pleasure" and it was released by Elektrohasch. Good reviews were coming in from everywhere - "Rock Hard" and "Ox-Magazin" also back with top praises. The band then set off play in Italy, Germany, France and Switzerland. By 2012, Chris Walt - after years of friendship and dedication - parted for good. Marco Grementieri (formerly of Zatokrev) replaced Chris, but Nadine Lehtinen (formerly of sHever) also stepped up and played when the band was in need of a bass.
A good number of successful performances and festival appearances followed, among which: Doom Over Vienna, Rockt den See, plus the final installment of Göppingen's legendary "Doom Shall Rise" festival, where Phased played to 800 enthusiastic fans! The same year (2013), a double LP was released by Danish Space Rock Productions. The compilation album "Phased" was pressed in an edition of 300 in red vinyl and contains a choice of songs from the previous three CD's. “Phased” also includes “Nexus”, an unreleased song from the recording-sessions for "Music For Gentlemen".
After an absence from the studio for over five years, it was time to record yet another album. In February 2014, with founding member Michael back on bass, Phased set down what was to become “Aeon“ at Helium Record in Basel.
While this doom monster was being mixed in London by producer Richard Whittaker and mastered in Birmingham by Esoteric mastermind Greg Chandler, another line-up change took place: Harald Binder joined on permanent basis. This new incarnation of Phased immediately went out and played many shows in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, culminating in an appearance at the "Up In Smoke" festival in Pratteln, Switzerland and support slots for Greenleaf, The Midnight Ghost Train, Freedom Hawk and Samothrace. In early summer 2015 Phased supported Mastodon playing on the big stage of the famous metal venue Z7 outside Basel.
In the autumn of the year 2015, and after playing as a three-piece for 15 years, Phased added a second guitarist to enhance the wall of sound. His name is Florentin Schönmann.
Phased are signed to Czar Of Bullets who will release the new album "Aeon" in November. It will be available on vinyl, CD and digital download, and is distributed world-wide via Plastic Head. Stay tuned for more doom!