Dreams Of Consciousness: an interview with Bedsore

Referring to their music as "kaleidoscopic metal of death", Rome's Bedsore take a progressive approach to creating extremely dark and heavy music. With their debut album Hypnagogic Hallucinations set to be released this week through 20 Buck Spin, I reached out to the band to find out about what led to their psychedelic and hallucinatory style. Guitarist/vocalist Jacopo Gianmaria Pepe was kind enough to answer my questions.

Dreams of Consciousness: Please introduce Bedsore - who are you, where are you from, and how would you describe the music you make?

Bedsore is the musical result of the combination of the warping minds of J, S, G, D. In brief, the music proposal consists in a melting formula of obscure old school death metal blended with a progressive rock component. Each element aims at the creation of this weird creature.

DoC: Please give a brief history of Bedsore - when did you form, and what were your goals at the time?

Bedsore started up as a duo project of J and S. In September 2018, they released their debut demo. G and D joined the band later, at first as live sessionists, and then as official members in 2019, becoming part of the current lineup. Hypnagogic Hallucinations studio recordings started in 2019. The intention driving the band - now and then - is to create a music that is able to describe the altered visions of our inner world emotions.

DoC: Bedsore are making a name for yourselves with a mix of atmospheric / psychedelic elements and heavier death / black metal. How did you arrive at this approach?

We are deeply close to a conception of music as a continuous interconnection between different kind of elements, genres and shades of sounds. So our music is the natural consequence of this approach. Moreover, we are also very familiar with the Italian progressive rock culture and we are into bands such as Il Balletto di Bronzo, Area, Banco del Mutuo Soccorso, and Semiramis that made of this concept of music their personal flag.

DoC: Tell me about your writing process - how do your songs come together, typically? How do you balance the atmospheric and heavier elements within your songs?

The general composition is managed by J and S that define arrangements and structures. Then, G and D draft bass and drum lines, including re-arranging and re-writing, if needed. During the arranging process we try not to exclude any timbric or tonal possibility, since each way of expression may become a good path to follow. The result is the miscellaneous presence of both atmospheric and tight moments. There's no conscious balancing we make, but just the product of the music itself that flows.

DoC: Your first album Hypnagogic Hallucinations will be out on July 24th. Tell me about the album - where was it recorded? How long had you been working on it? What kind of experience do you want listeners to get from it?

Hypnagogic Hallucination was physically recorded between March / April 2019 by Guglielmo Nodari at the Snakes Studio, and was mixed and mastered by Marco S. (Malokarpatan, Demonomancy, Thulsa Doom) at The Devil’s Mark Studio. Anyhow, it took about two years of gestation before taking this semblance.

The artwork and the graphics details, curated by T. Ketola (Dead Congregation, Krypts, Teitanblood, Venenum) were part of those attentions we wanted to have in order to give the listeners a coherent experience with our music. In the end, we want our music to be kaleidoscopic, able to make the spectators lose themselves in the mental landscapes that are revealed to them during this voyage.

DoC: What can you tell me about the lyrical themes of the album?

The lyrical imagery is inspired by grotesque, lysergic and transcendental experiences. The Dream represents one of the main focus, symbolizing an oneiric experience of inner quest. Hypnagogic Hallucinations is an intimate journey across the realms of dream and death of the human heart.

DoC: Hypnagogic Hallucinations will be released by 20 Buck Spin. How did they get involved with Bedsore, and why did you decide to sign with them?

We think 20 Buck Spin is the perfect place for letting our music and emotions flow free. Once we brought Hypnagogic Hallucinations to the attention of the label, the will to collaborate together instantly came out from both sides. We are so excited to be part of this amazing family and so grateful to everyone is supporting us.

DoC: Your music is often compared to the psychedelic horror films of Dario Argento, as well as the film scores for his movies created by Goblin. To what extent are you inspired by Argento, or other horror writers such as H.P. Lovecraft?

The imagery behind our music is constantly inspired by Italian horror directors and supernatural movies and literature as well as by progressive rock music; we feel very close with this subcultures. Movies such as 4 Four Flies on Gray Velvet, Suspiria, or Profondo Rosso (Deep Red in English) inspired us in more than a way. The soundtracks edited by Goblin and Ennio Morricone for those movies had a powerful impact on us, especially on our way to imagine and shape atmospheres and tensions. We are definitely thankful for the works these artists created.

DoC: Bedsore is based in Rome, and your members are also in other bands from the city (such as SVNTH and Night Gaunt). How would you describe the metal scene there? What would you say makes the scene in Rome different from others in Italy?

Italy is not the best place around the world for metal music - indeed - but metal community is not totally unresponsive, as people may think. We actually feel very lucky to play a good role in the roman metal scene - even as promoters - as well as to have a solid fanbase here.   

DoC: What's next for you?

We’re looking forward to the release date of Hypnagogic Hallucinations, set for July 24th via 20 Buck Spin. We will definitely try to support our album, doing our best in this strange times. In the meantime we’re working on some new material we hope to share very soon.