A review...or something
So I am, for all intents in purposes-in musical heaven.
Why?
INFECTED MUSHROOM IS BACK AND KICKING ASS.
I've had my ins and outs and phases with bands, groups, dj's and the like-hobbies and fashions as a whole too. Never before have I come to respect a group for their music so much as I have the group in question. The exploration of other genres, and not limiting themselves to one style or way of making music-this album is easily (even including Converting Vegetarians) the best example of such-molded and shaped to an incredibly explorative and powerful seventy-something minutes of music.
One of the biggest stereotypes of the trance genre, is how artificial some of the music can (and for some, tends to) be. It's known that for most core purists, psytrance and goa is the bulk of where the good stuff in the genre is found-as it's more expressive and tends to work upon a larger mold rather than a pre-determined format as per "norm" trance like Armin Van Buuren or Paul Oakenfold. The CD had flavour, and bites with a fairly decent chunk of unfamiliar territory when it comes to the base of the music-but it's welcome, and thorougly studied.
The first track that seems to show such, is "Artillery" and for one big big reason. Swollen Members...yes, the same trio who released Black Magic, Lady Venom and other such hits to people...collaberated with Infected to create easily one of my favourite hip hop ballads to date. Incredibly powerful, progressive...and with two seemingly different brands of creativity on both ends of the spectrum-it's the closest thing to perfection I've seen and heard when it comes to merging two 'good" things together. The second reason being the fourth track on the CD, known as "Heavyweight". This song changes speed and tempo, and akin to it's name-does not hold anything back, it's close to nine minutes of raw, heavy emotion. Beautiful electric riffs on the guitar, followed by changes in tempo and Eizen and Duvdev working magic on the DJ set-creates something that almost sounds like Lincoln Park, cut apart, thrown into a videogame-and remixed with an acid trip. It's a journey if that could be said with any song, and the length just helps it flow by like such.
One of the things that's different from earlier compilations, is the amount of emotion put into the songs, both through lyrics and generally direction-this CD has the most lyrics of anything released prior (not to mention the emotional subject matter). As opposed to previous releases, they decided to show what they had learnt, rather than make one album focused on one particular genre of music-such was a good decision with CV, and it shows with this even moreso. Songs like "In Front of Me" and "Forgive Me" show that their music isn't always about it's place in a party or a group of people-but it's soul and and feeling. The one thing I notice (and fell in love with, besides the cover art-which serves quite well) is the message of the album, which seems to be just that-"Vicious Delicious". Harsher, more striking-and a hell of alot more indepth because of such. The lyrics in the song are very introspective, and the tracks that reflect their psytrance beginnings (and reputation, although not limited to such of course) are even laden with melodies that aim for the heart rather than the dance floor. It's a skill to create something that can do both I find, and also to create music that expresses emotion without words-I believe that they've done both. There's a very solid balance in the compilation of songs, and to many-welcome after "I'm the Supervisah", which consisted of full on tracks to groove to and dance to, and root into their psy namesake.
There is at least a track for anyone willing to explore or enjoy another song within a genre within this album-guaranteed, right down to the fist-pumping lines of "Artillery" or the elevating and building power of the title track. Infected Mushroom has made me stop and question the way I look at music once again, and to do so twice is a feat accomplished by no other. I doubly reccomend it to anyone who enjoys the psy genre or just wants something different as a whole. On a side note, I'll probably be listening to the album and whoring it out around people when I hang around em' this weekend...so yeah:P
Why?
INFECTED MUSHROOM IS BACK AND KICKING ASS.
I've had my ins and outs and phases with bands, groups, dj's and the like-hobbies and fashions as a whole too. Never before have I come to respect a group for their music so much as I have the group in question. The exploration of other genres, and not limiting themselves to one style or way of making music-this album is easily (even including Converting Vegetarians) the best example of such-molded and shaped to an incredibly explorative and powerful seventy-something minutes of music.
One of the biggest stereotypes of the trance genre, is how artificial some of the music can (and for some, tends to) be. It's known that for most core purists, psytrance and goa is the bulk of where the good stuff in the genre is found-as it's more expressive and tends to work upon a larger mold rather than a pre-determined format as per "norm" trance like Armin Van Buuren or Paul Oakenfold. The CD had flavour, and bites with a fairly decent chunk of unfamiliar territory when it comes to the base of the music-but it's welcome, and thorougly studied.
The first track that seems to show such, is "Artillery" and for one big big reason. Swollen Members...yes, the same trio who released Black Magic, Lady Venom and other such hits to people...collaberated with Infected to create easily one of my favourite hip hop ballads to date. Incredibly powerful, progressive...and with two seemingly different brands of creativity on both ends of the spectrum-it's the closest thing to perfection I've seen and heard when it comes to merging two 'good" things together. The second reason being the fourth track on the CD, known as "Heavyweight". This song changes speed and tempo, and akin to it's name-does not hold anything back, it's close to nine minutes of raw, heavy emotion. Beautiful electric riffs on the guitar, followed by changes in tempo and Eizen and Duvdev working magic on the DJ set-creates something that almost sounds like Lincoln Park, cut apart, thrown into a videogame-and remixed with an acid trip. It's a journey if that could be said with any song, and the length just helps it flow by like such.
One of the things that's different from earlier compilations, is the amount of emotion put into the songs, both through lyrics and generally direction-this CD has the most lyrics of anything released prior (not to mention the emotional subject matter). As opposed to previous releases, they decided to show what they had learnt, rather than make one album focused on one particular genre of music-such was a good decision with CV, and it shows with this even moreso. Songs like "In Front of Me" and "Forgive Me" show that their music isn't always about it's place in a party or a group of people-but it's soul and and feeling. The one thing I notice (and fell in love with, besides the cover art-which serves quite well) is the message of the album, which seems to be just that-"Vicious Delicious". Harsher, more striking-and a hell of alot more indepth because of such. The lyrics in the song are very introspective, and the tracks that reflect their psytrance beginnings (and reputation, although not limited to such of course) are even laden with melodies that aim for the heart rather than the dance floor. It's a skill to create something that can do both I find, and also to create music that expresses emotion without words-I believe that they've done both. There's a very solid balance in the compilation of songs, and to many-welcome after "I'm the Supervisah", which consisted of full on tracks to groove to and dance to, and root into their psy namesake.
There is at least a track for anyone willing to explore or enjoy another song within a genre within this album-guaranteed, right down to the fist-pumping lines of "Artillery" or the elevating and building power of the title track. Infected Mushroom has made me stop and question the way I look at music once again, and to do so twice is a feat accomplished by no other. I doubly reccomend it to anyone who enjoys the psy genre or just wants something different as a whole. On a side note, I'll probably be listening to the album and whoring it out around people when I hang around em' this weekend...so yeah:P