Infected Mushroom
Army Of Mushrooms


3.5
great

Review

by VaxXi USER (35 Reviews)
March 2nd, 2015 | 12 replies


Release Date: 2012 | Tracklist

Review Summary: Sometimes selling out is fun!

As time passes on and people change, so do the trends of the world. The electronic music scene is a clear sign that the trends of the world constantly evolve. Once an underground scene with a sound that kept it mainly unnoticed save for a few surfacing trends became more and more pop-ish in style as producers found ways to implement it into quicker, louder, and flashier pop music. This was the birth of the polarizing sub-genre known as EDM and with this change trends died. Come the turn of the decade the genre known as trance, a long and repetitive style of music was more or less dead in an industry demanding the easily accessible music it couldn't provide. With artists abandoning the genre or fading into obscurity left and right there didn't seem to be anything else left for the genre. Except for a certain group that always managed to remain on top despite their scene withering away.

That group of course is the Israeli psy-trance group Infected Mushroom who have always been a popular duo in the electronic scene for their stellar blending of psychedelia, rock, latin, and vocal performances in often energetic trance compositions through-out in their career. What enabled the duo to remain on top for all these years of course is quickly catching on to the narrowing decline of their genre and compensating for it through introduction of new instrumental styles, experimental exploration and collaborating with big name artists such Jonathan Davis, Swollen Members, and Perry Farrell. By appealing to the mainstream while still maintaining a sense of underground composure the duo had managed to hold their own for over a decade. Which is why it came as a surprise three years after their release of their album Legend of the Black Shawarma that they would be signing onto EDM label Dim Mak and would release Army of Mushrooms which saw the group exploring mainstream territory with electro and dubstep styles. Which then made the sad announcment that another part of trance had died that day.

Not that it matters of course, since Army of Mushrooms still manages to be a fun album with a good amount of interesting experimental styles that capture the Infected Mushroom feel brilliantly. Even if it makes Amit and Erez a bunch of dirty sell-outs. Opening track Never Mind already shows the duo in a brand new light with a grimy rolling dub lead that ends with an odd but satisfying break-beat climax. The first taste we get of the duo’s new sound is one that newcomers will latch onto quickly thanks to their catchy and dirty mixes of bass heavy messes while older fans will find some room to appreciate the more trance inspired tracks that are placed in parts of the album and with the vocal tracks courtesy of Amit himself. The duo manages to keep the energy high through most of the tracks, displaying interesting mixes of metallic dub leads, skittering electro beats, and other hard hitting synth work that are familiar to those of the electronic genre. Though this may sound bad to most, Infected Mushroom manage to establish their own unique voice with this sound by introducing their familiar rock riffs and experimenting with their new styles with the use of wavy and stabbing basslines and an array of musical effects and vocal chops. Along with usually experimental climaxes such as Nothing to Say’s dramatically reversing instrumentals or The Rat’s interesting break-beat trance mix.

Though for all the killer tracks present on the album, there is also a fair share of less than impressive tracks and a surprising amount of filler. The track So ***ed’s humor wears out quickly as the same line repeats over and over in an array of equally annoying synthesized voices and I Shine’s odd poppy up-beat first half fits in awkwardly with the dirty and heavy electro riffs of the last half. The only filler track that manages to stand out on its own is Wanted To with an interesting vocal/piano lead playing in hand with metallic bass progressions. Another track on this album that oddly stands out is the cover of Foo Fighter’s The Pretender which while the duo does manage to create an interesting spin with more industrialized production it eventually gets boring near the end of the original track’s length and ends up droning on for another two minutes due to a lack of consistency. Also because of its album length, which clocks just under 90 minutes, certain tracks begin to sound the same save for the experimental climaxes that end them. Which is why its best to listen to this album in breaks or to stick with a select few on the record. Infected Mushroom’s romping in mainstream electronic music may offend the long time fans of the group for more obvious reasons and for an album that runs just under 90 minutes same may find this record hard to stomach. But for those who can set both of these issues aside and take a listen will find that Infected Mushroom still have a lot to offer in an entirely new zone of music and will find an incredible amount of enjoyment for the insane arrangements that the duo has cooked up. Which in the end makes the fact that they’re total sell-outs seem not so bad.



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user ratings (148)
3.4
great

Comments:Add a Comment 
VaxXi
March 2nd 2015


4418 Comments


Stream here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uloBD9xxwZ0

Over three years and almost 100 ratings and this album managed to avoid a review, anyways this one isn't my best but I think it does an alright job. Feedback appreciated.

Hoppoman
March 2nd 2015


723 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

I think their older stuff is quite a bit better, although I do like a few tracks off this one.

VaxXi
March 2nd 2015


4418 Comments


Their older stuff is definitely better, but as far as more mainstream electronic music goes these guys still manage to be pretty good. Their Friends on Mushrooms series is also pretty good, if you havent checked it out yet you should.

Aftertheascension
March 2nd 2015


3564 Comments


the album cover is amazing

VaxXi
March 2nd 2015


4418 Comments


These guys have some of the best album covers without a doubt

TalonsOfFire
Emeritus
March 2nd 2015


21001 Comments


the album cover is amazing [2]

Decent review but you could've cut a lot of sentences in half, or at least inserted some commas.

VaxXi
March 2nd 2015


4418 Comments


I thought so, I have a really awful tendency to draw sentences out way too long. I'll see what I can do when I get home from school.

facetheslayer666
March 2nd 2015


117 Comments


never thought anyone would review this lol i thought i was the only one who knew this band xDD

carved
March 2nd 2015


315 Comments


cant stand to listen to this for too long

idonthavetimeforthis
September 11th 2015


22 Comments


I personally loved The Messenger 2012. Anyone else?

Tunaboy45
October 31st 2015


18562 Comments


This is surprisingly good

LotusFlower
October 31st 2015


12000 Comments


if you like this you ought to give their friends on mushrooms series a spin, its a lot more solid than this and has some great collabs with Pegboard Nerds, Astrix, and Savant.



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