Bedsore - Dreaming the Strife for Love • GRIMM Gent (2025)

Speaking of the incredible releases by Blood Incantation’s “Absolute Elsewhere” and the new Opeth album “The Last Will and Testament” I can easily say that Bedsore’s return is rather alleviated to the year’s top release on my list. The musical aspect is generated from the percussion, and harsh vocals the role of keyboard drive is prominently engaging and homogeneously structured with leads and guitar solos.

The majestic composition of the mellotrons and organ in the opening track “Minerva’s Obelisque” presents a psychedelic journey through the structured organ compositions and the atmospheric guitars; with so many cinematic passages that suit the music quite well. The jazz and progressive rock influence is rife in this album featuring detailed elements from the saxophone and heavy guitar effect as it slowly builds up to the next song “Scars of Light”.

The instrumental part is notable in the sophomore and emphasizes psychedelic music, odd might be the right word to describe the music in general, while the riffing is heavy. Bedsore leans toward creating a combination of atmospheric and progressive ideas in a more vintage style.

The music may not be as dynamic, but it is similar to the Italian 70s progressive rock band Goblin, however, the quartet of Stefano Allegretti (classical guitars, keyboards, synthesizers, mellotrons, organ, lyrics, and songwriter), Jacopo Gianmaria Pepe (vocals, 12 guitar strings, and songwriter), Giulio Rimoli (fretless bass, and bass pedals) and Davide Itri (drums and percussion) offers precise progressive methods where each band member gets to show off their instrumental prowess.

Bedsore’s distinctive and original style expands these boundaries because they embrace diversity in how they bend the rules and fuse memorable song structures and fabulous musical interpretation, their music does not comply fully with death metal. The harsh vocal lines and the organic drum beats mix surreal organ soundscapes with progressive rock elements that display semi-symphonic influences which is close to the German symphonic Krautrock bands like Ramses.

Bedsore favors these long earworm passages in the 11-minute track “A Colossus, an Elephant, a Winged Horse; The Dragon Rendezvous” an epic journey that conveys the trademark fusion of innovative musical passages. The complexity of this song provides more in-depth oscillating between profuse synth sections and progressive death metal riffs, and the saxophone is reminiscent of Pink Floyd, lush synth and proggy guitar riffs and arpeggio guitar patterns are meticulously infused into the composition resulting in engaging and atmospheric moments that are consistently catchy.

The synth-driven moments throughout the album create moody and jazzy fused riffs that add something unique to the psychedelic aura of the album. All theseelements flow beautifully; from start to finish Bedsore embraced a proggy sound the mellotrons are filled to the brim and the entire album captures a dreamy psychedelic and ominous sensation.

The experience, however, sends chills down the spine, most notably in the track “Realm of Eleuterillide” which slowly builds up to the sound of percussion. Eerie guitar riffs add proggy sound effects near the end of the song to enhance the atmosphere, it is impressive how Bedsore demonstrates its death metal influences in the sophomore.

The slow acoustic passages then segue perfectly into each other while providing a jarring percussion backing as it slips into a three-minute song “Fanfare for a Heartfelt Love”. And while there is enough space to breathe, the Hammond keys create dark textures where the keyboard lines provide a proggy feel highlighting the instrumental arrangements and the production quality defines the compositions.

The intricate guitar work in the final song “Fountain of Venus” opens with a catchy guitar line. This epic 10-minute track offers diversity and genius musical transitions to create a unique and symphonic tapestry and showcase instrumentation prowess. Surprisingly, however, the instruments work together coherently with the organ Hammond section flourishing into the music these elements allow Bedsore to provide hooks.

There are plenty of dark spacey moments and fully instrumental passages that pose as a central theme to this incredible song, the percussion is minimal at times but once the music kick in you hear proggy and funky keyboards that create a backdrop and with the spiraling guitar solos and lead guitar work before the music retains to the dark and ominous creepy vibe.

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REVIEW SCORE

• Music / Songwriting 10/10
• Vocals / Lyrics 8/10
• Mix / Production 10/10
• Artwork & Packaging 10/10
• Originality 9/10