Phased‘s cumbersomely-titled fourth album, A Sort of Spasmic Phlegm Induced by Leaden Fumes of Pleasure, isn’t the highest profile release of 2010, but the Swiss trio has stumbled onto a individualized mixture of space, stone and doom that they weave their way through expertly. It could be the fact that this lineup of Phased has been together for nearly a decade (the band itself formed in 1997), or it could be the kind of chemistry that’s either there to begin with or not and no amount of time can bring about. Whatever they’re doing, it works.

Elektrohasch released A Sort of Spasmic Phlegm Induced by Leaden Fumes of Pleasure to a positive reception from the scene (myself included), and Phased have been playing shows around their home country and have plans to hit Germany before the end of the year. Interestingly, when I sent the questions for the following quickie email interview to guitarist/vocalist Chris Sigdell, both he and drummer Marko Lehtinen answered — leaving only bassist Chris Walt silent — but did so without any delineation of who was saying what, which is perhaps the best analogy I can come up with for the way the band performs: together, as one unit.

So, with the understanding that we’re hearing from Phased (or two-thirds, anyway, which if you round up is the whole band), and not just one member, please find enclosed after the jump the following Q&A, and enjoy.

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Let there be no misunderstanding: Phased know their rock. The multinational (Switzerland, Finland and Sweden) rock trio recently issued their fourth album via Elektrohasch Schallplatten, and though you might expect a band who calls a record something as cumbersome as A Sort of Spasmic Plhegm Induced by Leaden Fumes of Pleasure to beat around the bush for a while, for the most part Phased get right down to business with a borderline trippy psych rock that galvanizes strains of Fu Manchu, Queens of the Stone Age with the rougher hewn edges of Sleep and The Melvins.

I know as far as stoner rock goes, these are marriages well made before Phased came along, but A Sort of Spasmic Phlegm Induced by Leaden Fumes of Pleasure has charm beyond its title, and the band’s evident passion for what they do comes across clearly in the songs. They’ve been together in this incarnation for nearly a decade (after originally forming in 1997), and the comfort of the players shows in “Rim Shot to Infinity, “ which is about as unhinged and far out as their jams get. “The Osteopath” and “Tip of the Sky,” which takes the “Holy crap I’m so high” lyrical approach, follow a more straightforward fuzz rock ethic, and effectively, setting up the course for the latter half of the record to get progressively more ethereal and crunchier with each song.

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