Eisen and Duvdevani first began to play together in 1996. A few of their early efforts were released under the name Shidapu & Duvdev. The duo then renamed themselves Infected Mushroom, a name they stole from a local punk band that had been disbanded. The young duo drew inspiration from The Prodigy and Metallica. In an interview with Psychedelic Magazine, the duo stated they were naturally attracted to the psytrance genre through its popularity. In 1998 the group began work on their first album, 1999's The Gathering, inspired by Simon Posford, X-Dream and Transwave. This album featured a dark, rhythmic sonic atmosphere exemplified by its popular track, "Psycho", using a sample from the movie Batman & Robin. It was one of the first albums to bring to mainstream audiences, and contributed to the genre's worldwide popularity.
