Infected Mushroom – B.P.Empire

One of my favorite albums by Infected Mushroom, which I've come to appreciate more and more over the years.

I've always found it to be much stronger than the previous two albums, but those have grown on me as well.
However, they do not have the sense of completeness that this album does. They miss the final layer and the smoothness that wasn't possible with the technology that was available at the time.

In this album Infected Mushroom have developed their sound to get a more defining theme throughout the whole album, which is a bit darker in style, but it feels very... perfect.
They haven't just gone with some hunches and left stuff as it is, they have really made sure that this stuff works, and you can tell, the level of detail is much higher, the breaks and in's and out's of the breaks are way more natural and do not seem as sudden as in the previous albums.
I also like that the bass is more modern, it packs a punch without just sounding annyoing in the background, which sadly was the case on some of their earlier tracks. There is more of a progressive vibe over B.P.Empire, the tracks break against the average psy-trance arrangements, and some parts are longer than usual, while still being changing enough to keep the listening interesting.

The album also changes from the first track to the last, going from a bit harder and crazy, with some of the feeling of their previous albums, to a bit more mellow, softer and beautiful.
As with all Infected Mushroom albums, you don't really just pick a song and add it to your favorites playlist and listen to it once in a while, you have to listen to the whole album, because as seperate songs the tracks are just pieces in a puzzles, individually they don't make much sense, but together they paint a clear picture.

If it wouldn't cost me a months rent I'd try to pick it up on vinyl.

Side note, like most psy-trance album, this one has 9 tracks. And as most psy-trance albums released on vinyl, that version only contains 8 tracks. I cannot describe how I hate that you have to lose a track when you pick the vinyl version. And that it is the title track B.P.Empire that is missing from the vinyl is just insane.
Anyways, I recommend this album!

Also, thumbs up for the nice cover, it's probably the best of all their albums.

Does anybody know if the partially mixed original release from Israel sounds any different from the others ?

Quite possibly,the mystery of B.P. Empire would never be solved as the duo never fully reveals the meaning of the title.Some took a smart guess and said B.P. simply means B.P.M.,it makes much sense since BPE is probably the darkest and most full-on album Infected's ever made.Anyway let's just get these trivial matters over with.

B.P. Empire was released in 2001,one year after their legendary work Classical Mushroom,Infected kept their promise to push their music further and this time we got B.P. Empire.Unlike its predecessor,BPE focused more on Jazz and funk elements which brought the whole album a relaxing atmosphere.

I'm not gonna waste time on something you guys might already know which means I will not comment on Track 1-8.Quite ironically,shroomians' attitude towards these tracks is either lovelovelove or hatehatehate,personally I'm never on hate side but I don't love them that much.My favourites here are Funchameleon and Tasty Mushroom.

And yes,we're moving on to TRACK 9,THE BIG MONSTER,THE ESSENCE OF THE WHOLE ALBUM:DANCING WITH KADAFI.First off,many of you may ask why this track got such a strange name.I had this question in my mind too when I first listened to DWK and later on got the answer from IsraTrance Forum.

"It was a funny name that we thought of many years ago that if you can dance with Kadafi, you can dance anywhere in the world." -------------------Duvdev

Before 2004 most Shroomians thought Erez's cat was called Kadafi so they named the track DWK,now we know it's just another rumor :) Back to the track itself,I still can't think of any word to describe it so I'll leave the update for tomorrow?Next week?Or maybe next month?I'll finish this review before December anyway :p Dancing With Kadafi is beyond words.

'B.P. Empire' is the the Album which began Infected Mushroom's move away from their previous goa-trance-influenced sound found on 'The Gathering' and 'Classical Mushroom'. While this is still a great psy-trance album overall, it does have a completely different sound to many albums of the genre. Noteably, tracks such as 'Noise Maker' and 'Funchameleon' are much less intense than most of IM's typical fullon style. In addition to this the track 'Dancing With Kadafi' is at a mellow 120 BPM, which is a sure sign of the changes IM were going through musically at this time.

The melodies in some of the tracks are also harder to access than in their previous albums. The title track 'B.P. Empire' is a solid pounding track, but for the most part the melodies are not as distinct as the inpressive lead melodies found in 'Classical Mushroom', for instance.

Overall this is a solid relase from Infected Mushroom, and I do recommend it, especially if you are an IM fan. There are a couple of weaker tracks in this album, such as 'Funchameleon', but overall a very nice album. Best tracks in my opinion are 'Never Ever Lamd', 'Unbalanced', 'B.P. Empire', and 'Dancing With Kadafi'

4/5

Good album here. I don't care for all the tracks, but "Spaniard", "Dancing with Kadafi" and "B.P. Empire" are classics. Everything IM touched after this album is pure crap though. Sad really...

When this CDcame out Infected where at the top of their game: world-renowned and rulers of the psy-trance scene in Israel. Never looking back, IM remained committed to their promise, since the beginning, not to repeat themselves and to continue experiment stylistically as they did in Classical Mushroom, their 2nd album. While it had been critically acclaimed, many listeners felt it was too far off the "mainstream" psy-trance genre, and perhaps because of that IM brought their 3rd album closer to the pounding, up-tempo sensation of their 1st album. But make no mistake, this album manifested its own, new, fresh and unique sound.

After Infected's second album, which delivered a classical-music oriented resonance, B-P-Empire pushes the psy-trance boundaries into jazz and funk, mixing game-music with something that sounds like the ending credits score in a movie. The bass and melodies never leave you cold in new water, though. The emotional deliverance of each track is very well preserved, and the classic build-ups IM fans are familiar with are ever present. All the songs are exceptionally well-produced, a quality consistent with all of IM releases.

Infected's musical expertise and creativity, compiled with their high-profile samples and production skills, make their music a joy for any objective listener. You can't go wrong here, but you can be disappointed if you are looking for a specific, old-school goa sound. IM dropped this in the 90's, move along.

So, DOES being a popular psytrance act mean you cannot satisfy the hardcore psytrancers at the same time? In the case of IM today, undoubtedly! And perhaps the first signs of trouble surfaces here.

Not that there are no decent tracks ON BPE. There are just no exceptional tracks, and most of the time I'm unsure where IM wants to take me. It's psytrance, alright, but for silent reflecting, I find, rather than dancing. Title track B.P. Empire and Noise Maker seems more focused though and would most likely dispatch the bones off to the dancefloors. The remainder is forgettable or even annoying with its use of guitars (hence the reference to the current disasterous status of IM).

And, no, Dancing With Kadafi is not praised by everyone. But IF you like DWK, you will probably like the entire album.

A pretty epic trance album. Infected Mushroom stands out from most Goa artists due to their use of guitar and piano in the songs - as well as other live instruments from time to time. But this is why I like Infected Mushroom so much... Because of how much they sound different then the other trancers out there.

Stand outs for me on this album are Never Ever Land (awesome acoustic guitar mixed in the beats), Tasty Mushroom (has a classical feel to it) and of course the monster known as Dancing With Kadafi which uses so many different styles and instruments its crazy.

Goa and Psy lovers should pick this one up right away.

My favorite IM release. Beautifully structured from the minimal yet still psychadelic 'Never Never Land', all the way to the grand collage of 'Dancing with Kadafi'. This is IM at their peak.

Beautiful big and open. Very melodic, with hints towards
the IM/Sakharov sound of "Birthday". Intensly emotional
and visual disc; movie music with a touch of
klesmer-psychedelia. Not heavy at all.
Let your family hear this one when they drop by for a
visit, it will do them good :)