Infected Mushroom

Drawing from Israel's most potent Goa trance currents, Infected Mushroom have emerged as one of the Middle East's most prominent international cult phenomena. Erez Aizen's early immersion in obsessive bedroom computer experimentation carried him through several rudimentary dance projects until a mutual acquaintance introduced him to Amit Duvdevani, a thrash metal enthusiast who had just returned from an unsuccessful stint in India; the pair discovered sufficient common ground to quietly investigate the psychedelic currents then surging through local clubs. Those explorations yielded 1999's The Gathering, shaped by the surreal ambient dance aesthetic of Simon Posford, X-Dream, and Transwave, followed by 2000's Classical Mushroom, an assertively tuneful trance album that opened markets across Europe, Japan, and the United States, establishing the duo among Israel's leading trance production teams.

Their third album, B.P. Empire, marked a partial departure from their established psy-trance approach by incorporating classical and Middle Eastern-inflected melodies alongside reduced tempos. The 2003 double CD Converting Vegetarians extended this experimentation, splitting one disc into direct trance material and a second into ambient, abstract electronic, synth-pop, and downtempo pieces. IM the Supervisor arrived in 2004, introducing fresh production methods, additional influences, and greater vocal presence, resulting in a more accessible record that became their strongest commercial performer at the time.

After IM the Supervisor, Infected Mushroom moved to Los Angeles and began collaborating with guitarists Thomas Cunningham and Erez Netz. In 2007 the duo placed ninth in DJMag's Top 100 DJs poll, affirming their position as the world's leading psychedelic trance act. Their 2007 album Vicious Delicious broadened their palette beyond electronic dance music into hip-hop, rock, and Latin styles, featuring more guest contributions than earlier releases, among them vocals by Gilberto Cerezo of Kinky and Canadian hip-hop group Swollen Members, alongside expanded live instrumentation. Legend of the Black Shawarma, issued in 2009 on Paul Oakenfold's Perfecto label in North America, pushed their rock-trance hybrid further with appearances by Korn's Jonathan Davis and Jane's Addiction's Perry Farrell, plus Infected Mushroom's own remix of the Doors' "Riders on the Storm."

Steve Aoki signed the group to his Dim Mak label in late 2011. Their first Dim Mak release, 2012's Army of Mushrooms, continued stylistic expansion with dubstep, electro-house, and drum'n'bass tracks plus a cover of Foo Fighters' "The Pretender." The duo then launched an extensive North American tour called "The Unveiling," built around an elaborate audio-visual production, followed by the "FungusAmongUS" North American run with guests the M Machine. Early 2013 brought the collaborative EP Friends on Mushrooms, Vol. 1, with a second volume appearing later that year; the pair also contributed a track to Lady Gaga's 2013 album Artpop. Friends on Mushrooms, Vol. 3 surfaced in 2014, and a full-length compilation titled Friends on Mushrooms, drawing from the EPs plus two new songs, arrived in early 2015. Later that year they issued Converting Vegetarians, Vol. 2, returning to the psy-trance sound of their initial work, before delivering their eleventh album, Return to the Sauce, in 2017.