Review by chrisc7249 on January 29, 2023.

I originally started typing out this review questioning the band’s choice to name this project Bedsore, but a quick read right here on Metal Archives gave me my answer and I decided that it is kind of a cool name. Knowledge is fun.

“Hypnagogic Hallucinations,” the debut LP by… Bedsore is a very artsy album, one that follows more in the vein of Morbus Chron and Ghastly than it does anything else. This bodes well for the band, as that type of atmospheric, eerie, yet somewhat mellow and dramatic death metal that those bands play has only just begun in recent years to be truly explored. This allows the band to perhaps become a leader of this growing niche, and boy have they capitalized on that.

While this album doesn’t feel as complete as “Sweven” or “Death Velour” from the aforementioned bands, it is definitely a moody, colorful landscape of sounds that creates an atmosphere that is simultaneously ghostly and horrid, as well as enchanting and perhaps even somewhat beautiful at times. Don’t get me wrong, this is still, at its core, a death metal record, but the riffing has so much character, whether it is a more straightforward thrashing riff, or a dissonant, haunting riff with a pallet full of vibrant melodies attached to it. Hypnagogic hallucinations are defined as hallucinations that occur in the state between dreaming and wakefulness, and it’s fitting; this is a very surreal, dreamy album with a ton of character and emotion in it that instantly separates it from your standard death metal affair.

If you’re looking for brutality and unrelenting riffs, you won’t find it here. Not to say this album isn’t heavy, but it is most definitely a slow burner. A lot of attention is devoted to building the atmosphere, relying on acoustic builds into the crushing riffs and sinister melodies we’ve all grown to know and love from this genre. It isn’t going to blow your brains out - rather, it sneaks up on you on a chilly mid-November night, strangles you relentlessly for 3 minutes, and then slowly caresses your unconscious self while your eyes roll back into your head and you (peacefully?) die. Above all else, it is a haunting album. For what it is, you won’t find much better, an exciting debut for a new band with a lot of potential.

FFO: Morbus Chron, Ghastly, Venenum

Favorite songs: 'At the Mountains of Madness', 'Brains on the Tarmac'

Rating: 7 out of 10

Review by Carl on September 1, 2024.

That cover really catches the eye, doesn't it? Two war metal bros, fully decked out in their bestial metal gear, hanging around in their grandma's backyard. No joking, I love this! I love this about as much as I love the fact that one of the members uses the alias of Sexual Hammer. Simply brilliant! He should marry the singer of Savage Necromancy, Diabolical Fuckwitch of the Black Flame. Couple of the century, right there!

But what about the music, you ask? Well, that will not need a whole lot of explaining. This sounds exactly as you'd imagine it to sound: blunt death metal infected tremolo guitar riffing going head-to-head with a distorted and cavernous vomitous vocalization, underpinned by a battering percussive assault, executed with all the sensitivity of a psychotic carpenter on meth hammering nails into a plank of wood. Niceties such as melody, subtility, and fine jazzy interludes are nowhere in sight, focusing mostly on diabolic rage and shit-bonker aggression. Slower stuff does surface here and there, even utilizing a smattering of keyboard drone, as showcased in tracks like 'Saurian Sixth Sense' or 'Other Worlds', which works pretty well amidst the aural holocaust going on. The hype sticker on the front mentions bands like Beherit, Bestial Warlust, and Blasphemy (these last ones get referenced quite directly in 'Blasphemous Witchcraft'), and I'd personally add a band like Naked Whipper as well. It's raw, volatile, and aggressive stuff, guaranteed to please the war metal throng, for sure. Granted, it's stuff that's been done well before, but let's face it: I'm not waiting for any progressive war metal with trap rap influences, and neither are other fans of the genre. This stuff is good as it is, and as Mike Love from The Beach Boys apparently once said: don't fuck with the formula. Couldn't agree more.

The production is rough as nails, which fits the style like a glove, but if I'm being honest, it also hampers the whole from really landing that needed fist in the face. Points for the natural percussion and guitar work, but in its totality the unrefined production gives the music more of a softly humming sound, which lessens its bite significantly. You want this type of metal to mimic a high-powered chainsaw running at full force, right?

Despite this yammering on my part, this still remains a war metal album well worth the time. Musically, it delivers the goods in a way agreeable manner, and the album looks great as well. After my disappointment with the Yxxan full-length, I'm glad I now have this Baphorator album to wash away a lot of that bitter aftertaste.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10

Review by Carl on September 1, 2024.

That cover really catches the eye, doesn't it? Two war metal bros, fully decked out in their bestial metal gear, hanging around in their grandma's backyard. No joking, I love this! I love this about as much as I love the fact that one of the members uses the alias of Sexual Hammer. Simply brilliant! He should marry the singer of Savage Necromancy, Diabolical Fuckwitch of the Black Flame. Couple of the century, right there!

But what about the music, you ask? Well, that will not need a whole lot of explaining. This sounds exactly as you'd imagine it to sound: blunt death metal infected tremolo guitar riffing going head-to-head with a distorted and cavernous vomitous vocalization, underpinned by a battering percussive assault, executed with all the sensitivity of a psychotic carpenter on meth hammering nails into a plank of wood. Niceties such as melody, subtility, and fine jazzy interludes are nowhere in sight, focusing mostly on diabolic rage and shit-bonker aggression. Slower stuff does surface here and there, even utilizing a smattering of keyboard drone, as showcased in tracks like 'Saurian Sixth Sense' or 'Other Worlds', which works pretty well amidst the aural holocaust going on. The hype sticker on the front mentions bands like Beherit, Bestial Warlust, and Blasphemy (these last ones get referenced quite directly in 'Blasphemous Witchcraft'), and I'd personally add a band like Naked Whipper as well. It's raw, volatile, and aggressive stuff, guaranteed to please the war metal throng, for sure. Granted, it's stuff that's been done well before, but let's face it: I'm not waiting for any progressive war metal with trap rap influences, and neither are other fans of the genre. This stuff is good as it is, and as Mike Love from The Beach Boys apparently once said: don't fuck with the formula. Couldn't agree more.

The production is rough as nails, which fits the style like a glove, but if I'm being honest, it also hampers the whole from really landing that needed fist in the face. Points for the natural percussion and guitar work, but in its totality the unrefined production gives the music more of a softly humming sound, which lessens its bite significantly. You want this type of metal to mimic a high-powered chainsaw running at full force, right?

Despite this yammering on my part, this still remains a war metal album well worth the time. Musically, it delivers the goods in a way agreeable manner, and the album looks great as well. After my disappointment with the Yxxan full-length, I'm glad I now have this Baphorator album to wash away a lot of that bitter aftertaste.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10