When known and experienced musicians start a new band, many fans search for similarities with the musicians' previous works, a way to gather self-identification and synergy with it. There are times when things go wrong, other times go right, and excellent surprises can come as well. In the case of the North American quartet BEDLEM, they can be considered a revelation, for "Back to Bedlem" is really a great work.

Paul Wandtke (ex-TRIVIUM and ex-ROCK OF AGES) and Joey Trace Brassal (ex-FASHION BOMB) are the ones behind the band, and its musical work is based on a modern and melodic form of modern Heavy Metal. Modern in the sense that their music bears touches from what is heard on North American modern bands, like TRIVIUM, K.S.E., LAMB OF GOD and many others, and with elements from Groove Metal, Progressive Metal and others. But the melodic insight used is perfect, contrasting with the greasy aggressiveness of their music, and how the energy can tie the fans to their musical work, along with charming choruses as well. The sound production of "Back to Bedlem" is truly great. The blend of aggressiveness with the melodic elements and modern aesthetics is really amazing, and the clean sound quality of the album helps a lot their songs to be fully understood by the listener. And the modern instrumental tunes that were chosen are really great.

The version of "Back to Bedlem" for this review has 13 songs, showing that the quartet is really a promising name. they have guts and dare to unleash a great amount of energy with their songs, and the abrasive atmosphere of "Chaos" (excellent charming vocals, great chorus and nasty grunts here and there), the melodic and accessible insight of "Avarice" (great work from bass guitar and drums on rhythmic conductions), the excellent melodies and introspective atmosphere of "Bethlem", the brutal and Groove grasp of "Bereft", the bitter melodies of "Revelation", the Teen Metal approach on "Scorned" (due the charming and accessible modern melodies used), and the sharp and aggressive aesthetics of "Triumph" (with some excellent broken tempos) are the best to introduce the fan to the band.

Obviously they still have a long way to go, but BEDLEM has talent to get there, as "Back to Bedlem" shows clearly.