Album Review: Infected Mushroom - Army Of Mushrooms

At least the mushrooms are consistent. Israeli-born duo Amit “Duvdev” Duvdevani and Erez Aizen have resisted the all-powerful temptation to jump on the dubstep bandwagon. Correction: they've nearly resisted temptation to jump aboard the dubstep bandwagon. Two of the tracks on Army Of Mushrooms, namely Wanted To and U R So Fucked, are slower and more pedestrian than what you'd normally expect from the Mushrooms as they teeter towards dubstep.

But fear not Mushroom lovers as most of the beats heard throughout Army Of Mushrooms remain steadfast in psy-trance category. Aside from abovementioned deviation, the only other divergence comes courtesy of a shift in production as they've foregone the live band experience/aesthetic heard on '09s The Legend Of The Black Shawarma to a more robust club sound experience.

Headline track, Never Mind, is full of uplifting riffs with plenty of bass and drums to back it up. There's a pleasant surprise with The Pretender, a cover of the Foo Fighters rock classic. If rock and psy-trance sound like an odd combination, well, that's because they are. But it works as the duo take control of their signature electronic stamp with a nice metal breakdown solo arriving midway. Nation Of Wusses drops a pulsating trance beat whilst The Rat is louder, more aggressive and more techno-orientated than previous psy-trance efforts.

Overall, Infected Mushroom still deliver: the quick edits, the ongoing hybrids, the build ups, the peaks and troughs; they're all as solid as ever. And while Army Of Mushrooms is more akin to old-school techno and regurgitated '80s synths and samples, it works wonders.