Throwback Thursday: Infected Mushroom - Classical Mushroom

There aren't many artists that can boast the longevity that Israeli psytrance duo Infected Mushroom have. Making waves for more than two decades, Erez Eisen and Amit Duvdevani just released their 12th studio album More Than Just A Name on Monstercat in March, but today we're turning the calendars back more than 240 months to January 2000 and the timeless brilliance of Classical Mushroom. Their sophomore sensation stretches well over the hour mark with a mere nine tracks, each epic in their own right. Always eager to expand their boundaries, the duo's addition of more typical, organic instrumentation and so called classical sounds, is precisely what made this album such a stunning success.

"Bust A Move" is as exceptional an opening track as you'll ever encounter. With the rolling piano opposing the rollicking psy-warp sensory overload, it's likely to leave your jaw on the floor as you dance around it in some kind of arcane ritual. Maintaining that mystical allure, "None Of This Is Real" is guided by godly guitar shredding which emanates from the vast obsidian infinity that each psy-trance track exists within. Burrowing into your brain, Infected Mushroom successfully blurs the line between our workaday, humdrum reality and this new vivid exciting soundscape, especially as the next track, a really gorgeous groover, "Sailing In The Sea Of Mushroom" takes hold. Firmly entrenched in this ultra-amplified irreality, "The Shen" doubles down on the dopamine making each orchestral sweep that much more moving as each additional flurry (organic or electronic) forces the listener further down the rabbit-hole that is Classical Mushroom.

Splashing down in the mesmerizing middle, "Disco Mushroom" employs the same brilliant blend of bright, beautiful top-notes with the dirty, driving psychedelic swells and masterful movement that gives the track so many lives and magical moments. It is at once scorched earth while also cool and calmly crafted cinematic, musical wizardry. This theatrical touch once again plays in "Dracul," not just through the clip from Bram Stoker's Dracula, but in the chilling, chase-scene quality of its unwavering, undead energy. The unholy nature of Classical Mushroom hits its peak in "Nothing Comes Easy," but it and "Mush Mushi" strike me as the only misses in the album. I don't mean to say that they are bad, but they don't capture the same creativity and genius as their counterparts. I will say "Nothing Comes Easy" is cool in its guttural vocals, but the rest of the track strikes me as unremarkable - an indistinct album cut. This largely describes my feelings towards "Mush Mushi," whose greatest facet comes in its fluidity and seamless progression. Both are powerful pieces, but pale in comparison to the incredible tracks that surround it, especially the ingenious finale "The Missed Symphony."

The depth, breadth and vast scope of this closing number is simply stunning. There's mountains of movement, making room for essentially everything that's come before it in Classical Mushroom, turning the track into an almost 'best-of' epic. It is cohesive, cruising through its 10+ minute runtime with ease, making it another undeniable highlight in an album overflowing with them. While there are many points in the album in which Infected Mushroom really catch their stride, it's those points in "The Missed Symphony" that are the most rewarding for me. There's multiple moments of relief/jubilation when the pressure of the tension pops and the track roars forward in fantastic synchronous harmony, but none better than the finale of finales, starting just before the eight minute mark and running through to the final notes.

I'm grateful to the friend that introduced me to Infected Mushroom (by way of "Bombat") so many years ago, and for lighting the fire of exploration that still burns within me today, without that I wouldn't where I am now, nor would I have encountered this foundational and truly inspired album. Enjoy Classical Mushroom below and if you dig it I highly recommend exploring more of Infected Mushoom's catalog, especially their brilliant 2007 album The Doors Remixed. More of my Throwback Thursday posts here.FOLLOW INFECTED MUSHROOM: FACEBOOK SOUNDCLOUD TWITTER