Only makes sense as a joke.

This band name and logo is so unfitting to the music, especially when it is paired with this band photo. Anyway, Dreaming The Strife For Love is one of the most inspired albums of the year, a mix of wild '70s prog with death metal, and, given the fact that many will compare it to the latest Blood Incantation album, I personally prefer Bedsore's take. Great production, lush sounds, trumpets, trombone, fretless bass, mellotron, adventurous and engaging songwriting; it's all here. You can count on the Italians to deliver out-of-the-box, quality metal. I am impressed.

Sometimes I forgot I was listening to death metal from Italy and straight up thought I was listening to a Yes album.

There's maybe a total of 30 seconds of death metal in the third song and that's it for the entire album, otherwise this is just a 70s prog tribute. It's well done though. I love the layering. A little meandering though, but that's probably just my attention span.

This work is fucking crazy, very complex and dark, the atmosphere that the 70's style keyboard gives it makes it even more sinister. These Italians are pleasantly surprised.

The band has shared the concept of the story and music of each of these tracks (which made me appreciate the album even more). It's on Instagram and here are the direct links for anyone interested:

01. Minerva’s Obelisque

02. Scars Of Light

03. A Colossus, An Elephant, A Winged Horse, The Dragon Rendezvous

04. Realm Of Eleuterillide

05. Fanfare For A Heartfelt Love

06. Fountain Of Venus

Written by nikarg on 27.12.2024 at 12:38

The band has shared the concept of the story and music of each of these tracks (which made me appreciate the album even more). It's on Instagram and here are the direct links for anyone interested:

01. Minerva’s Obelisque

02. Scars Of Light

03. A Colossus, An Elephant, A Winged Horse, The Dragon Rendezvous

04. Realm Of Eleuterillide

05. Fanfare For A Heartfelt Love

06. Fountain Of Venus

Oooo, cool reading.

They don't seem to mention it, but the work they base all this on is a real book printed (one of the earliest printed works in Europe in fact) during the Renaissance by Francesco Colonna.

Written by A Real Dög on 31.12.2024 at 01:38

They don't seem to mention it, but the work they base all this on is a real book printed (one of the earliest printed works in Europe in fact) during the Renaissance by Francesco Colonna.

Thanks for pointing that out. They actually said it back when they announced the album:

"This is more than just a record, it's an otherworldly voyage that delves into the trials, triumphs and transcendence of Love. Inspired by the Renaissance-era mysterious book Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, this opera will take you on a surreal journey through a labyrinth of dreams and symbolic landscapes. Embark with us on the quest for Love through imaginary worlds filled with allegories and riddles, offering an intimate and metaphysical reflection about the eternal struggle to attain an ideal Love."

The more I listen to this album, the higher it climbs on my year-end list.

I was more than excited after the pre-release single and love the new approaches. Unfortunately, it's one of the most unstructured albums I've heard in a long time. There's virtually no build up to anything, which takes away any emotionality from the vocals. Actually interesting passages are not thought through to the end and are suffocated in rampant meandering, such as overly long intros, interludes that fizzle out or abrupt endings. But I have hope that the guys can hit the big time with their next album.