In the recent couple of years, Infected Mushroom have cemented their position of the globe’s most popular trance band. While their major rivals are overcoming their creative blocks to record a full-fledged album, Infected Mushroom just keep releasing new albums, permanently increasing their popularity, which is evidenced by the fact that they have been twice ranked among the world’s 10 best DJs by the bible of the scene, DJ MAG Top 100.
And now, after a short break, Infected Mushroom are coming back with their seventh album – to surprise everyone once again, just like the first time. It’s been two years since the release of their previous album, “Vicious Delicious”, and the popular duo has changed a record label and has grown into a real rock group with a five-man line-up which now can perform real concert shows. Guitars, live drums, intensely passionate vocals – all those things are more than psy-trance, they’re bigger than that in size and volume. Even on their previous album Infected Mushroom made no bones about their wish to do some kind of a blend of trance and rock music, and on the new CD they have brought the idea almost to perfection. Amit ‘Duvdev’ says that on the new album they’ve continued what was started on “Vicious Delicious”, and extended line-up has enabled them to make it more aggressive – both on the live side and on the trance and breakbeat side.
Paul Oakenfold himself has produced the album. “Paul’s known as a house DJ, so we weren’t sure how he’d feel about our heaviest material,” Duvdev reveals, “but he loved it. He brought a lot of great energy and advice to the table.” The band took its time crafting the album, working on material whenever their frenetic, globe-trotting tour schedule permitted. “We used to go into any room and make it a studio,” Duvdev recalls. “But the new Infected Mushroom Laboratory is as state-of-the-art as you can get for recording electronic music. We built a tracking room for live drums.” During the process they constructed a new studio from scratch in the aptly named “So Cal” locale of Studio City.
What of the album’s mysterious, culinary title?
“We were on tour in Australia two years ago,” Amit explains. “A friend came to me and said, ‘I have this dream to dive with sharks.’ They do that in Australia – you’re lowered into shark-infested waters in a cage.” At that point, Duvdev warned his burly friend that in a wetsuit he would resemble, to toothy denizens of the deep, a certain meat wrap of Middle Eastern origin. “I told him if he did this, there were five gigantic sharks waiting for a shawarma like him to come down in a cage and be devoured. We thought that was pretty funny and the Legend of the Black Shawarma was born.”
The new CD highlights some high-profile guest vocalists. The lead single “Smashing the Opponent” features a scorching vocal from Korn’s Jonathan Davis, while Jane’s Addiction’s frontman Perry Farrell lends his inimitable pipes to the follow-up single, “Killing Time.” And the band’s cover of the Doors’ cult song “Riders on the Storm” is an unquestionable hit.
According to all the project’s participants, it was an unforgettable experience and everyone is satisfied with the result. Obviously, the release of “Legend of the Black Shawarma” is going to be another great event in the entire world music industry, not only trance music scene alone.
In Russia and the CIS countries, the album is released by Pravitelstvo Zvuka™.
On November 7, B1 Maximum will see a terrific gig and presentation of Infected Mushroom’s much-anticipated album.