Haunted By Hallucinations
Haunted By Hallucinations

The sonic spiral unfolding across the nine tracks of this work, once listened to in full, is encapsulated in the as unique as it is explanatory name, Haunted By Hallucinations. Pete Toikkanen (formerly of The Soul Investigators), a talented guitarist and composer, along with drummer Laura Könönen and Jussi Oskari on bass, form the line-up of HBH, a Finnish band likely nurtured on hefty doses of Black Sabbath, infusions of space-rock à la Hawkwind, heaps of garage-rock, and Floydian psychedelia.

This debut work produced for the independent Herakles Records in Helsinki is a cosmic exploration traversing the long Scandinavian winters, spread over 43 minutes in nine lacerating chapters, mostly instrumental. "Krystal" emerges in the album's first grooves with its solemn pace, a dreamlike dimension where the only path, like beacons in the night, is traced by a sharp, disciplined bass pattern echoing "Starless" by King Crimson. Hints of a worn progressive-rock immediately dissolve with the second track "Winter," highlighting the ever-changing nature of the album, held together solely by the psychedelia that permeates the entire work. "Confused mind" is a beautiful noir ballad worthy of the most inspired Nick Cave of the Birthday Party era. Toikkanen's sharp guitar tears through the atmosphere, sewing it back together disjointedly like a Picasso painting, in the spectral, claustrophobic "Haunting." "You Can’t See" and "Midnight Manor" are a blend of occult psychedelia and krautrock, akin to the seminal "Tarot," an unforgettable masterpiece by Walter Wegmüller. Guitars laden with flanger, cold and distant echoes propagate from the self-titled track "Haunted By Hallucinations," a decidedly darkwave piece. Less heavy, but equally delightful, "The Creator Of Gods" briefly eases the tense, oppressive atmosphere of the entire sonic journey for just over two minutes. A slow procession of souls, with a troubled and martial step, flows through the concluding "Confessions." The tones lower, and the music is reduced to the essential. A bass marking the same sound, the same litany, grants us the final beats of a dreamlike voyage that, in the act of drifting off, illuminates itself with its own light.