Bedsore is an extreme progressive metal band from Italy, who formed in 2018. Their latest album, “Dreaming The Strife For Love,” is their second full-length album; they have also released a demo and a split.
This was a hard album for me to review. I was a huge fan of their debut full-length “Hypnagogic Hallucinations,” so I was taken aback by the sounds presented on this album.
The band’s prior music isn't a stranger to progressive elements but on this one they dive heard first into 70s prog rock. As a whole, I find it works pretty well but it certainly feels like it's more prog rock than metal at times.
That may or may not be a deal breaker for some so mileage may vary. For me personally, I feel like this album leans so heavily into its influences that it loses a lot of the mind numbing psychosis that made their debut so impressive to me.
But this album is worthy for the bold risks it takes and how unique it sounds. There isn't a shortage of bands mixing old with the new but, thankfully, the way Bedsore approaches it keeps, the album sounds different from any contemporaries. I don't think each song works but the songs that do work are pulled off amazingly well.
The opening song, “Minerva's Obelisque” unfortunately doesn't start the album out quite as well as I was hoping. It's basically an intro but it's about five minutes too long. It's an instrumental (except for some light clean vocals near the end) so it's missing the extreme vocals. That missing element keeps the song a bit too light for my tastes and the structure ends up meandering around too long.
“Scars Of Light,” fairs a lot better. It's faster paced and it's progressive elements get to the point at better angles for their ideas to bounce from. The riffs and keys/organ meld together pretty well across the song. The melodic elements are spacious enough to hold these ideas while allowing the non metal elements to sound as tower as the extreme ones.
“A Colossus, an Elephant, a Winged Horse; the Dragon Rendezvous,” is the center piece of the album and clocks in at nearly twelve minutes. The opening tones capture a foreboding feeling and the desecent into madness that I was missing.
It's methodical; each instrument adds in their own style as they all work together to build the song up layer by layer.
From the six minute mark onward is my favorite part of the song. The tempo is fast, the atmosphere hellish and crumbling. When the extremity of their core sound pokes holes in the blanket of their classic prog, the band's new direction shines.
The classical clean guitar is beautiful yet has a hint of twisted machinations within it. But it's final moments of the song that make it stand out, where melodic flourishes dance around black metal and prog elements.
The final song, “Fountain of Venus” is another solid song. The first few minutes are urgent in an odd way, and even sound a little playful at times. The bass is particularly strong.
There are moments of rich smoothness (from the 3:54 to 5 minute mark) that show a maturity and confidence to this direction that made me feel a little bad that it hasn't grasped me fully.
Ultimately, no matter how you might feel about Bedsore’s “Dreaming The Strife For Love,” the album is worth checking out at least a few times. What the band is going for may not hit the mark every time but it’s an unique experience, something that is lacking these days in most genres (metal or otherwise). I also can’t fault a band for willing to experiment either. Hopefully, in the future, Bedsore can better focus the extreme elements into their unconventional ideas so that it’s a more cohesive experience.
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