ALBUM REVIEW: Dreaming The Strife For Love – Bedsore
The spectrum of progressive metal is a broad one. Whether it comes in the form of TOOL’s metallic riffing and mind-scrambling time signature changes, BLOOD INCANTATION’s cosmic horror-inflected blend of death metal and 70s-inspired experimentation or the envelope-bursting death-doom creativity of CIVEROUS, the one ting progressive metal almost always does is look to the future. Italy’s BEDSORE are here to buck that trend, however, with the release of their second full-length album Dreaming The Strife For Love on 20 Buck Spin.
Although classic 70s prog was something of an influence on 2020’s Hypnogogic Hallucinations, on this new record the band have practically submerged themselves in the warm atmosphere of the music of that era, using mellotrons, synthesisers, fretless bass, saxophones and drum compression to really give Dreaming The Strife For Love the feeling that it was written and recorded in 1974.
That’s not to say this is a retrospective collection of songs though as there is still a mountain of modern brutality on display here and it often sits brilliantly alongside the more old school vibes. You might not pick this up from opening track Minerva’s Obilesque though, as this starts things off very much in the retro style: a bombastic instrumental intro featuring heavily layered keyboard parts, subtle picked guitars, some light, jazz-influenced drums and even a few flute trills.
Second song Scars Of Light continues in a similar vein but very much builds on this foundation, breaking out the blackened death metal stylings without losing any of the experimentation the album opens with. Vocalist and guitarist Jacopo Gianmaria Pepe’s vocal work on this song particularly stands out, his hellish screams providing a fascinating contrast with the instrumentation, although there are noticeably heavier guitars and drums in parts of this song too.
Track three is the brilliantly titled A Colossus, An Elephant, A Winged Horse, The Dragon Rendezvous and on this one the band once again ratchet up the heaviness, bringing an almost BEHEMOTH–esque feeling to the verses, David Itrie’s drumming being a particular highlight. Before you can bang your head too much though, there’s a saxophone solo and then a proggy synth break that wouldn’t sound out of place on a STEVEN WILSON record. These breaks, while providing some rich musical textures to lose yourself in, do occasionally feel like they’re stopping the momentum of what’s come before though and your enjoyment of this record might be somewhat tempered by the very stop-start nature of things.
However, the experimental nature of this record is very much to be admired, even if you can’t always quite get your head around what’s going on. Realm Of Eleuterillide again begins things with a combination of blackened death growls and furious drumming before some virtuoso soloing adds an almost classic rock to the mix, at least for a few bars, albeit classic rock accompanied by trombones and trumpets.
The elephant in the room here is, of course, the new OPETH record, which sees that band reincorporating their heavier death metal side back into the proggier work of their most recent albums. While there are clear comparisons to be made between BEDSORE and the Swedish veterans, though, this album still feels different enough to find its own space. If anything, it’s far more experimental than most of OPETH’s output and also more pummelling in places so hopefully the more open-minded metalheads out there will still give this a go.
Those that do will be rewarded with a unique experience. Equal parts ambient, brutal and totally bewildering, you certainly won’t hear another record like this in 2024 and the fact there are musicians out there throwing caution to the wind in such a fascinating way should absolutely be applauded (even if you struggle to figure out which beat you should be clapping to).
Rating: 7/10
Dreaming The Strife For Love is set for release on November 29th via 20 Buck Spin.
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