Its name might suggest gross-out goregrind, but Italy’s Bedsore favors an immersive, divergent approach to death metal. The inter-dimensional brutality of the quartet’s 2018 demo got them on the radar of the label 20 Buck Spin, who have supported the quartet through its first full-length album cycle. Hypnagogic Hallucinations refines the eccentricities of that two-song demo. With a better, but no less intimidating production value, Bedsore comes through with a powerful debut of savage heaviness, transportive psychedelia, and unnerving atmosphere.
“At the Mountains of Madness” and “Brains on the Tarmac,” the two songs from the demo, reappear on this album in an updated form. These new performances show how much Bedsore has grown in the past two years. The former’s Lovecraftian namesake is appropriate for Bedsore's combination of larger-than-life melody and eerie, synthetic soundscapes.
The song paves the way to riff-a-minute explosions with slow-burning ambiance and arresting crescendos, covering an impressive array of feels and dynamics within 9-minutes. To a similar effect, "Brains on the Tarmac" punctuates dark ambiance with muscular death/thrash riffage, chilling tremolo-picked leads, and unpredictable time changes. The fact that this song becomes an effective closer for the album—even though it was originally written years ago—shows how this debut definitively realizes an artistic vision Bedsore has had from the get-go.
It’s hard to incorporate keyboards into death metal without going the nerdy route of Cynic or embracing symphonic bombast like Fleshgod Apocalypse. Not that either of those bands are bad, but it’s much rarer for a cut like the instrumental opener “The Gate, Disclosure” to seamlessly weave mesmerizing organ lines into chunky riffs and haunting space rock wanderings, manifesting a death metal take on Italian prog-rock legends Goblin.
Even when drummer Davide Itri’s blast beats kick “The Gate, Closure (Sarcoptes Obitus)” into high gear, the chilling guitar leads and inhuman roars maintain an otherworldly, unhinged aura. The heavy parts hit with convincing intensity, but Bedsore ultimately favors textures more fitting for a Cthulhu Cult sacrifice.
As “Deathgazer” fades in with spiraling guitar arpeggios, the band showcases its old-school death metal credibility. Guitarists Jacopo Gianmaria Pepe and Stefano Allegrett’s grimy fretwork locks in with Itri’s double-kick, while their guttural vocals recall the pained death rattles of Obituary’s John Tardy. Bedsore certainly dials in its sound with lethal dexterity, but the reverb-laden, unfiltered production adds a sense of primeval foreboding to these tracks. This works wonders for “Disembowelment of the Souls (Tabanidae)” as it balances mid-tempo blackened death and hideous doom metal.
Speaking of Disembowelment, this song’s cavernous midsection compares that pioneering band with its tasteful use of dead air. Sluggish chugs hang in the mix, as bestial wretches creep along like they're echoing out of Shelob's lair. The tension breaks with passionate leads and swaying rhythms, like Amorphis playing hymns for the Great Old Ones. The track’s final curveball comes as a gloms dark-jazz jam, which spotlights the melodic intuition of bassist Giulio Rimol.
Indeed, Bedsore’s nexus of fleshy riffs, inventive arrangements and convincing scare factor permeates the album. It’s truly gratifying to hear “Cauliflower Growth" bridge the gap between eviscerating black/death metal and gothic death-doom with spooky organ swells, as the harsh vocals continually find new ways to sound like a demonic dire wolf. Together with fellow Italian vocalist and keyboardist Giorgio Trombino, this particular track solidifies horrifying howls and trance-inducing synth patches as this band's two secret weapons. From soulful guitar solos to hypnotic sound collages, Bedsore brings mind-bending sonics and thoughtful songwriting to the unadulterated spirit of extreme metal.
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It’s hard to think of a better opening statement for Bedsore than Hypnagogic Hallucinations. It shows how unique this band’s sound really is in the current death metal landscape. It’ll be a hard debut to top, but the scene can always use a band that carves out a unique niche right off the bat.
Score: 8.5/10
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