Samples of the new Infected Mushroom album Return to the Sauce

[psytones]

The eye looks worried.

*ive watched the "live drawing of the album cover art", and the eye 'ooks worried.

[psytones]

It becomes better from 11:25 :~D

*track inspired by The Lone Deranger

[antic604]

Ok, since it isn't really out until it's on CD, I ehm... "borrowed" it from the Internet. As I said, I can hear a lot of similarities to Classical, I'd say the problem is that those good "orchestral" and more musically sophisticated parts are further apart and shorter, separated by a lot of nothing, i.e. pumping kick + bass of different flavours. But it's still much better and more creative - musically - than a lot of full-on or prog: there's this unmistakable charm to Erez's chord progressions, that no one else seems to be able to replicate (maybe Talpa?) and it just works, when he's allowed to do it. It's great to see that Duvdev & his singing is really restrained here - there's just one song where it's heard clearly (in others it's heavily processed, to the point of not sounding like voice anymore) "Groove Attack" and it's actually very good, because it's a short phrase and doesn't offend more (IMO, actually less...) than the singing in "Dracul" off of Classical Mushroom.

 

All in all, it won't set your world on fire like early IM trilogy did, but it's really great to see them returning to more "proper" psychedelic trance, at least their interpretation of it.

 

As soon as the CD is out, I'm buying it!

[Trinodia]

Ok, since it isn't really out until it's on CD, I ehm... "borrowed" it from the Internet. As I said, I can hear a lot of similarities to Classical, I'd say the problem is that those good "orchestral" and more musically sophisticated parts are further apart and shorter, separated by a lot of nothing, i.e. pumping kick + bass of different flavours. But it's still much better and more creative - musically - than a lot of full-on or prog: there's this unmistakable charm to Erez's chord progressions, that no one else seems to be able to replicate (maybe Talpa?) and it just works, when he's allowed to do it. It's great to see that Duvdev & his singing is really restrained here - there's just one song where it's heard clearly (in others it's heavily processed, to the point of not sounding like voice anymore) "Groove Attack" and it's actually very good, because it's a short phrase and doesn't offend more (IMO, actually less...) than the singing in "Dracul" off of Classical Mushroom.

 

All in all, it won't set your world on fire like early IM trilogy did, but it's really great to see them returning to more "proper" psychedelic trance, at least their interpretation of it.

 

As soon as the CD is out, I'm buying it!

Just had a quick listen on spotify today but i agree with what you say. It is back to psytrance again and more of the original infected sound with tweaking and twisting effects, quite complex melodies and chord progressions.

I liked what i heard but will take a more detailed listen some other day but first impression is best one in a long time from them.

[recursion loop]

I love their first 3 albums, but I still "hate" Duvdev because if it wasn't for him Erez alone would have went into different direction. 

How do you know? 

 

It's easy to think so casue Duvdev wears stupid suglasses and looks like a stereotypical scumbag from a 4chan macro, but we don't actually know who defines their direction.

 

I wonder what would it be if these two guys never met each other.  I guess we would now have a couple of goa/psy albums from late 90's/early 00's cherished by few dosens of oldschool goa fans and largely unknown to anybody else. Together they created a very unique style which actually nobody ever managed to copy, though they hardly even belong to psytrance.

[psytones]

Wonder if Duvdev smokes shanga to the psychedelic trance sauce. I havent. But I think Id like to try.
Honestly, I havent had a psychedelic trip to IM's music in many many years!

The sauce, hmmm... sauce. Whats needed in the sausce.. What about... cheese is scrumptious, but with pepper, it'll be more bumptious


"Concentrate on your question, and when it is ready click on ... interrogate the oracle



Look at this awesome cover

 

 

Are you down with me?

  Edited January 28, 2017 by psytones

[antic604]

How do you know? 

 

It's easy to think so casue Duvdev wears stupid suglasses and looks like a stereotypical scumbag from a 4chan macro, but we don't actually know who defines their direction.

 

I wonder what would it be if these two guys never met each other.  I guess we would now have a couple of goa/psy albums from late 90's/early 00's cherished by few dosens of oldschool goa fans and largely unknown to anybody else. Together they created a very unique style which actually nobody ever managed to copy, though they hardly even belong to psytrance.

 

"Together"? How do you know - I don't recall ever seeing Duvdev in front of keyboard or DAW, so his input to the music is mostly by influence, encouragement, etc. If you go through IM's albums - all of them - the music itself is clearly very much like it always was: theatrical, baroque, very elaborate in terms of arrangement and tonality, stunningly produced (thinking of sound manipulation, not necessarily the mastering). This constant is Erez's contribution. What Duvdev brought to the table as soon as they become popular was singing / rapping and rock-band image. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, because many bands work like that - e.g. Raja Ram's contribution to Shpongle is mostly talking while stoned + occasional flute part - but in this case I have no doubt that IM without Duvdev would be better. For me the albums after "B.P.Empire" don't exist, so I wouldn't mind if they never got "big" and "famous".

[recursion loop]

I thought Duvdev was a part of IM from the very beginning.   Or did he join later?

[U.F.Orb]

I....I Realy like it !

 

No chance in hell i will even try and compare this to the first three albums, but this is the first time

i enjoyed an infected album since 2003.

 

Just ignore whatever thought's you had on infected mushroom and you'll be fine.

 

 

A Realy nice surprise !

[antic604]

I thought Duvdev was a part of IM from the very beginning.   Or did he join later?

 

No, he was in IM from the start but came from a rock band, while Erez released two goa/psy-trance albums (as Shidapu and Shiva Shidapu) before they formed IM and you can clearly hear where IM's sound is coming from...

[recursion loop]

No, he was in IM from the start but came from a rock band, while Erez released two goa/psy-trance albums (as Shidapu and Shiva Shidapu) before they formed IM and you can clearly hear where IM's sound is coming from...

I knew these names but never heard the music. Now listening to "the album" from discogs and I don't hear many similarities to Infected Mushroom as we know them (and truth to be told i think it  mostly sounds like crap).

 

Afaik Duvdev is a classically trained musician as well and he was into trance scene since early 90's so we can't 100% attribute the melodic work and the trance aesthetics to Erez alone.

[antic604]

I knew these names but never heard the music. Now listening to "the album" from discogs and I don't hear many similarities to Infected Mushroom as we know them (and truth to be told i think it  mostly sounds like crap).

 

Afaik Duvdev is a classically trained musician as well and he was into trance scene since early 90's so we can't 100% attribute the melodic work and the trance aesthetics to Erez alone.

 

You're right, I might be projecting my "hate" towards Duvdev's image on his musical contribution. We won't solve it here

[recursion loop]

You're right, I might be projecting my "hate" towards Duvdev's image on his musical contribution. 

But he still wears extremely stupid sunglasses and looks like a total scumbag, so he can pretty much be hated 

 

I used to be a big fan of IM a while  back when I wasn't listening to psytrance much, now I hardly ever listen to any their album despite I still think they are extremelly talented - just no more my thing.

 

And why these guitars on Flamingo? Would be much better without them.

[BogzBinny]

It's weird to me when I hear "Oh, IM was way better 16 years ago." I never really liked them in the first place, even their early shit haha.

 

 

 

It's easy to think so casue Duvdev wears stupid suglasses and looks like a stereotypical scumbag from a 4chan macro, but we don't actually know who defines their direction.

 

 

That was actually pretty funny.

[Themaniac]

It's weird to me when I hear "Oh, IM was way better 16 years ago." I never really liked them in the first place, even their early shit haha.

 

 

 

 

I thought I was the only one!

[Richpa]

Personally i'm not liking this new 'psytrance' of IM. Last time they actually had something to offer was Franks and Project 100, and that was a long time ago. Besides that they always released something that I couldn't connect to. And yes, I don't have anything particular against the dubstep as a music. In the meantime (counting from the third album onwards), Talpa, Faradize, Principles Of Flight and Misted Muppet offered a lot of content that somehow sounds a lot better than this new stuff, in my personal opinion.

The Gathering and Classical Mushroom are still one of the best psytrance albums of all time and no matter what they will make, that music will always have a special place in my heart. This is just marketing that goes well with nostalgia, but folks here on Psynews who experienced thoose two albums are smart and won't be fooled I guess. But, I'm sure there will be people who will enjoy the new IM 'psytrance'. IM just not one of thoose

[exotic]

I had a free listen , didnt move me at all . I virtually got into psytrance because of these guys ( classical mushroom) now they are just catering to the modern EDM sound , this is hardly return to the sauce , very weak sauce infact . I wouldnt call it trash coz they are putting something out there so that would be harsh but if youre calling your album return to the .. the fans expect more

 

Disappointed but i didn't expect much anyway 

[mike.54]

[ma05683]

listening

i cant handle so much talent

quit

hahahahaha

[antic604]

I had a free listen , didnt move me at all . I virtually got into psytrance because of these guys ( classical mushroom) now they are just catering to the modern EDM sound , this is hardly return to the sauce , very weak sauce infact . I wouldnt call it trash coz they are putting something out there so that would be harsh but if youre calling your album return to the .. the fans expect more

 

Disappointed but i didn't expect much anyway 

 

I'm actually curious about that - what is it exactly that you expect that isn't there? For me this is the closest we ever got to Classical or B.P.Empire in last 16 years: there's a lot of classical / theatrical (i.e. not typically psytrance-y) melodies in there, there's a lot of crazy sound manipulation, there's a lot of energy and minimal amount of singing. Is it a problem that they introduce all this while sounding a bit more modern, with dubstep or glitch techniques ("catering to modern EDM")?

 

Not saying this is a 5/5 meterial or whatever, but the amount of negativity astounds me! This new album is the Infected Mushroom with rockstar image dialled all the way down, which - I thought - was all that we asked for, because otherwise their music was always top notch.

[Kai-Q]

I listened the full album and what I might have to know it, it's nothing special.

Sound for me like the same stuff, what they made in the last 16 years.
Some melodies are okay, but all that breaks, special effects and other playthings, which are typically for IM, get ony my nerves.
It's not a bad and It's not a great album. Is in my opinion again an solid Psy Album, with Pop elements.

What I still don't like are the stupid vocals from MC Baldhead. Especially with all that stupid FXs.

 

I wished that Erez Aizen would revive the old Shidapu project to make good old goa stuff.

[Iti10]

I'm actually curious about that - what is it exactly that you expect that isn't there? For me this is the closest we ever got to Classical or B.P.Empire in last 16 years: there's a lot of classical / theatrical (i.e. not typically psytrance-y) melodies in there, there's a lot of crazy sound manipulation, there's a lot of energy and minimal amount of singing. Is it a problem that they introduce all this while sounding a bit more modern, with dubstep or glitch techniques ("catering to modern EDM")?

 

Not saying this is a 5/5 meterial or whatever, but the amount of negativity astounds me! This new album is the Infected Mushroom with rockstar image dialled all the way down, which - I thought - was all that we asked for, because otherwise their music was always top notch.

The most accurate comment on this thread, I am a die hard fan of IM so I'm not the greatest example, but looks like many people here are very close minded, and the thing that is even worse than that is exactly what you wrote, what did people expected?

I really like The Gathering, Classical Mushroom and B.P. Empire era, those 3 albums are pure gold for me and nothing match its quality, but in our days the music does't get better unfortunately (I'm talking about musical quality, not sound), and those great albums belongs to the past, and even when its supposed to be kinda old school album, they still had to make something relevant for nowadays.

 

I know every beat from every track they ever had, and yes its the closer they got to "old school" Infected, in fact its not that close (even quite far) but its closer relatively to the other albums,

While its a little bit sound like the Supervisor or CV trance side, it still got something deeper and darker than those, (Vicious Delicious and the Black Shawarma were a hybrid between psy and heavy metal so I don't consider it) and its especially good when comparing it to Infected 2012-2014 era.

 

I have seen a comment here when someone wrote its sounds amateur when compared to "real" psy releases, that's just ridiculous! for example I really love Astrix and yes the latest album has an unreal drive to it, but still many of the tracks sounds pretty much similar to each other and many consider it one of the best psy albums, Including me also,

But I don't know many artists who are at the production level of IM, and the more known psytrance artists are not even close IMO, or maybe we look at things differently.

[exotic]

I'm actually curious about that - what is it exactly that you expect that isn't there? For me this is the closest we ever got to Classical or B.P.Empire in last 16 years: there's a lot of classical / theatrical (i.e. not typically psytrance-y) melodies in there, there's a lot of crazy sound manipulation, there's a lot of energy and minimal amount of singing. Is it a problem that they introduce all this while sounding a bit more modern, with dubstep or glitch techniques ("catering to modern EDM")?

 

Not saying this is a 5/5 meterial or whatever, but the amount of negativity astounds me! This new album is the Infected Mushroom with rockstar image dialled all the way down, which - I thought - was all that we asked for, because otherwise their music was always top notch.

Well to be honest i just skimmed through the tracks looking for something to hold on to , something to get my groove on to and those moments didnt come . Maybe its that feeling ive heard it all before and there is nothing new ? I know this is a very generic statement when you want to dismiss an album outright but i feel this is the truth because i did give it a fair chance . From what i could tell in those 30 odd minutes while driving to work, Groove attack is probably the only track that manages to hold my attention and despite that  its way too minimal in approach and execution, other tracks have too many moments of this experiment with weird sound manipulations where nothing really happens other than to showcase some sort of sound evolution , far too many build ups not leading to any peak . IMO they have tried to play the fine line to not get too pure/arty/ inaccessible or too commercial/dubsteppy with vocals and thats where it  comes up short , the new EDM crowd will love it and go nuts ( they probably already are ) , i consider myself a purist and this falls way below what i would consider good psytrance . 

 

Again this isnt the worst release ever , just weak sauce and not return to the sauce

[antic604]

Well to be honest i just skimmed through the tracks looking for something to hold on to , something to get my groove on to and those moments didnt come . Maybe its that feeling ive heard it all before and there is nothing new ? I know this is a very generic statement when you want to dismiss an album outright but i feel this is the truth because i did give it a fair chance . From what i could tell in those 30 odd minutes while driving to work, Groove attack is probably the only track that manages to hold my attention and despite that  its way too minimal in approach and execution, other tracks have too many moments of this experiment with weird sound manipulations where nothing really happens other than to showcase some sort of sound evolution , far too many build ups not leading to any peak . IMO they have tried to play the fine line to not get too pure/arty/ inaccessible or too commercial/dubsteppy with vocals and thats where it  comes up short , the new EDM crowd will love it and go nuts ( they probably already are ) , i consider myself a purist and this falls way below what i would consider good psytrance . 

 

Again this isnt the worst release ever , just weak sauce and not return to the sauce

 

Oh, I agree if you put it like that - it's actually nothing new for IM, because this sounds to me like a cross between Classical and B.P.Empire and all the elements were already there back then. It is nothing new, there's a bit too much of stop & go moments as well and they seems to enjoy displaying their technical proficiency, tilting the balance that way slightly. Still, when they hit the right notes it's godly, like the chord progressions in Return To The Sauce or the mad, twisting leads in Groove Attack (+ the Disney-esque chorus) or Gravity Waves.

 

Let me put it that way - I never expected I'll want to buy another IM album, but I'm really glad I was wrong. Deleted the files and waiting for the CD to show up!

[MrAnarchy]

Oh my... From now on, when I write reviews with a grading poll it'll go something like this: 

 

7) Amazing

6) Great

5) Good

4) Mediocre

3) Lousy

2) Bad

1) Horrible

0) New IM album level of shitiness. A profound blasphemic act against psytrance. Considered a hazard to electronic music. Confiscate all copies before it inflicts more damage to it's listeners and our already unstable global environment.

 

Literally, the only good thing about it is the album cover!