Øresund Space Collective ‎– Hallucinations Inside the Oracle

Space Rock Productions (SPR045)

Although Øresund Space Collective mastermind Dr. Space has relocated to a remote, higher plane location in the universe the Danish/Swedish psychedelic space rock collective seems to still keep themselves busy. Over 50 musicians have played in this band since its inception in 2004. This 80-minute CD / 2LP was recorded almost a year ago at the Black Tornado Studio in Copenhagen. Hallucinations Inside the Oracle features just half of the members that played on the Different Creatures, Ode to a Black Hole and Visions of.... albums and has a sort of different aura to the other releases. I'm not saying the other albums are all similar, of course, but this still has a vibe of its own. It has more sitar and violin than ever, and is pretty laid-back, deep, spaced-out and spiritual.

There are only three tracks on the album. The longest, last piece "The Oracle" has been of course edited into two parts for the second LP. Side A is filled with "Reflections in the Minds Eye". The listener is immediately transported into some otherwordly, Eastern-tingled magical place. Sitar is the main isntruments as the synths and guitars create the backing drone and cool ethnic percussion the heart beat. Later on we also get some cool, slow lead guitar work. The very end is super spacey. Amazing and very hypnotic! B-side's "ESP (Extreme Spatial Perspective)" is more electronic, heavier and up-beat in nature. The beginning brings to mind some of the faster tracks by Eloy or Hawkwind which is great. This is what space rock should feel like! Before six minutes on the journey the track cools down and we get some cool jamming and very trippy atmospheres. Things get heavier and more intense again towards the end. In the end there is just that pulsating sequence again. Another killer OSC space jam for sure! The last, monstrously long (well, over 40 minutes!) "The Oracle" starts off with a synth drone, and then the sitar makes a mighty return. There is also some very nice violin and the track slowly builds up when the drums join in slowly. Things get a bit weird and loose at one point, and then there is more form and direction again and we get some guitar as well. Later on there is also some more rocking, majestic modes that I enjoy very much. The chilled-out, spacey ending has again some great violin that brings to mind Simon House. What a nice trip this is!

The CD comes in 8-panel digipack and is limited to 500 copies. The 2LP has two editions: black vinyl limited to 200 and coloured one limited to 300. The artwork by Ed Unitsky is just brilliant! The release date is October the 11th and you can preorder from the band's Bandcamp site for example. Highly recommended!

www.oresundspacecollective.com