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.
