Led by Masaki Batoh, Ghost formed in 1988 to produce albums of kaleidoscopic acid folk while allegedly squatting in abandoned Buddhist temples. These recordings possessed moments of transcendence that only hinted at the power of Hypnotic Underworld. The album opens with a jam session that starts out in free-jazz territory, ramps up to a wall-of-guitar-maelstrom worthy of Acid Mothers Temple, and culminates with a heavenly chorus roaring alongside stomping guitars and distorted vocals about "Aramaic Barbarous Dawn." Think "Kashmir" but three times as long and intense.