Into the trance zone

They gave psychedelic trance a fresh sound — triggered it with a new electronic buzz, gave it a dose of heavy metal licks and offered a generous fill of hypnotic arrangements. Twice ranked among world’s 10 Best DJs, the Israel-bred, LA — based duo, Amit Duvdev Duvdevani and Erez Eisen are Infected Mushroom! The duo was in the country to perform at the Sunburn Festival.

The band’s latest offering, Legend of the Black Shawarma sounds more intense, boasting of a strong heavy metal influence. “The album definitely pushes a heavy rock sound, but there are also traces of our typical psychedelic riffs and infectious melodies. We were very happy to collaborate with some of our inspirations such as Perry Farrell and Jonathan Davis. We’re extremely happy with the album’s outcome,” says Erez. Both artistes claim to have been influenced by artistes like Metallica, Pantera and Primus. “Our current favourite electronic artistes are Skrillex, Nero, Feed Me, Randy Seidman, Eitan ‘Fatali’ Carmi,” says Erez.

The first of four singles, Pink Nightmares hit the market early last year. “Pink Nightmares turned out to be a hit, but it started out as a nightmare — it was a bad dream one of our daughters had. When we first performed the tune at Coachella this past year, the dance tent went mental. We recently finished a music video for the single, quite dark and psychedelic,” he adds.

Talking about the latest album, due to release in 2012, Erez says, “We are very excited. The album will be a little less ‘rock-and-roll’ and a little more dance-oriented. You will hear our signature sound applied to a contemporary scene. I don’t want to ‘toot our own horn’ but, for example, dubstep has spread like wildfire and we think our interpretation is strong. What you will hear on the album will make you say ‘oh! this is what it sounds like when dubstep is done well’.”

Back home, in Israel, the duo has a huge fan following. “Many people tell us that they can hear the Middle-Eastern influence in our sounds. I guess this is proof that we are from where we are”, he says, adding, “Over the years, we have spent a lot of time in India, so it is a very special place for us. When we travel to India, we look forward to hanging out with good people. In terms of graciousness, generosity, kindness, warmth — the people of India are second to none.”