Infected Mushroom
The Gathering

You open the door, you sit slowly and comfortably on the seat. You're nervous... very nervous. You peer out the window of your Nissan Skyline at the faces of your rivals ready to leave you in the dust, and you're not sure if the beast under your hood will be enough to secure the victory. No matter, you think, there's always nitrous oxide to fire up your car's backside and claim the win. You insert the keys, turn them, the rain falls incessantly, but that's not the problem. The engine continues to roar, your pedal strokes make it growl like a caged animal, and the brake keeps it under control. You wipe the sweat from your forehead, surveying everything and everyone. The flags, the starter, the rivals, the crowd, a thought to the police that might arrive and stop everything. You unleash your horses towards victory, but first realize you've forgotten something. The music in the car is important, whether you're going shopping or on your illicit race. You look in the case, and your choice falls on "The Gathering". If you win, it will also be thanks to it.

Adrenaline. This word contains the essence of this record. It's the record for the hallucinated rave-party junkie, but it's also a "Fast & Furious" album. "The Gathering" is the debut of Infected Mushroom, a primordial, raw, electronically violent record, a cornerstone of the
Goa-Trance genre. In truth, I've never been a fan of electronic music, but since I discovered Goa and especially Infected Mushroom, I've developed an enormous passion for these electronic journeys at 160 bpm. Music for fried minds, to dance under the influence of acids, for those who want to live fast. So it happens to hear synthesized and heavily distorted electric guitars, with monstrous sound weight, a hallucinogenic beat, that hammers your eardrums until they implode and contort on themselves, rapid keyboards that flow icily along your spine, and a constantly high speed. This is music that requires a powerful subwoofer to be appreciated  more. It's electronic music made with class, thoughtfully crafted, and terribly brainy in its delirious psychotic passages.

1999. The debut of Infected Mushroom irreparably marks the landscape of Trance music, though without yet overhauling it. A still raw work, which will be surpassed by at least two later works, less heavy, but more extravagant and even more elaborated like "B.P. Empire" and "I'm The Supervisor". Recommended for all electronic music lovers, but also for music enthusiasts with  a good dose of "open-mind".

Rating: 7.5