Bedsore: Dreaming The Strife For Love

Italian extreme metal act Bedsore released a full-length LP late last year named Dreaming The Strife For Love. It's their second full-length album and the follow-up to 2020's Hypnagogic Hallucinations. I'm glad it didn't pass me by completely, because it's a relatively unique album, and to my ears falls into a similar genre to Blood Incantation's Absolute Elsewhere and Opeth's The Last Will and Testament. Spoiler alert, unlike the Opeth and Blood Incantation albums I don't think Bedsore has crafted a timeless masterpiece, however, the fusing of 1970s prog with extreme metal isn't something you hear every day. The release isn't as far reaching and 'out there' as Absolute Elsewhere, or as polished or thematic as the Opeth, however, I enjoy this release for its lack of stylistic boundaries and overall creativity. On this album Bedsores extreme metal dynamics are a little more Black Metal than death metal which is a point of difference from the B.I and Opeth too.

The album took inspiration from a renaissance-era book Hypnerotomachia Poliphili. Again, something you'd expect from a band leaning into prog rock. I hear a lot of Goblin, prog-era Opeth, ELP, and Early Black Metal sounds on this album. The playing and production are both very classy, however, I would say that overall I don't find the songs to be overly memorable. They're enjoyable, but not memorable if that makes any sense.

Listening to their previous work tells me that Bedsore has always been an adventurous extreme metal band, however, the 1970s-prog-meets-black-metal sound is something new for them. Therefore, whilst this album isn't perfect I'm very eager to hear what the band comes out with next as they continue to explore new sounds. A more developed version of this sort of album, or a complete U-turn likely awaits.

This is an intriguing album and band. I suspect Bedsore is a name I'll follow closely in years to come.

Tracklisting

1. Minerva s Obelisque
2. Scars of Light
3. A Colossus, an Elephant, a Winged Horse, the Dragon Rendezvous
4. Realm of Eleuterillide
5. Fanfare for a Heartfelt Love
6. Fountain of Venus

Added: January 27th 2025
Reviewer: Chris Reid
Score:
Related Link: Band @ Bandcamp
Hits: 329
Language: english

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