As tempting as a rotten pile of garbage picked of its most palatable bits of rot the festering obsession, a depression fixated upon a single lost connection, leaves the individual wasted and further fermenting in the process of numbing avoidance. Stinking at the mouth, anxiety ridden and killing off their least brave brain cells first all sense of time becomes irrelevant amidst the crystalline cope of those losing hours by the day. The passage of time eventually pulls like a string through a slowly sewn wound, an unnatural pressure which pinches and tightens at the numbed atrophies of the wounded mind, creating a surreal reminder to recall the ‘self’ back into control or become lost in whatever’d been given away. Helsinki, Finland-based gothic death/doom metal trio Asphodelus return for a second sink into the gloom-ridden grey waters they’ve propagated over the last decade, possessed by the emotional release their muse’d provided and now overflowing with a certain purple shade of moongazing grief. Now intending to exaggerate their own mood, to build higher upon a classic sound in order to launch their own spiritus, the breadth of what the band accomplishes on ‘Sculpting From Time‘ arrives in droves of accessible expression as they choose emotionally driven songcraft as their point of flight. Scalding in its up-close and chest roared station yet deeply mournful from a distance this second album claws intently at the watery path beyond its major points of inspiration and eventually verges on its own plateau of melodramatic, melodious yet eternally shoegazing doom.

Asphodelus formed in southern Finland circa 2012 under the name Cemetery Fog, initially entranced by an ancient vision of doomed death and black metal that’d landed somewhere between the early British melodic death/doom grime, and the chunkier riffcraft of early Greek black metal such as ‘Passage to Arcturo‘. The project evolved so quickly that by 2016 it’d been time to change their name, now focusing on a unique but not unrelated blend of tastes that’d still been fixated on the romanticist doom metal of the early 90’s but now presenting a natural evolution of the core idea that’d referenced early Katatonia and Varathron per its basal feeling. I’d more-or-less detailed this process in my review of their full-length debut (‘Stygian Dreams‘, 2019) where I’d eventually name it as #49 in my Top 50 Albums of 2019. Needless to say I’d been a fan, bought the gold-embossed LP and I’ve found that record has managed to age quite well over the last few years, resounding with the imperfect grit of early 90’s gothic melodic metal as it’d arisen from the continued ambitions of death, doom and black metal artists; Folks who know this style well likewise understand that past or present, ‘old school’ revisionist or otherwise, there is no in-between with this type of moody and inherently atmospheric melodic metal — There are simply good attempts and -terrible- attempts for the sake of gothic metal rarely managing an even slightly believable affect.

The frailty of hope adds to the strength of our decline. — Side A delivers a direct continuation and expansion upon the sound and style of ‘Stygian Dreams‘ from an even more strikingly emotional point of launch, taking a few deeper steps into the wells of gothic rock/post-punk inspired early 90’s melodic metal. This should be felt immediately as the yearning guitar hook which guides use through the pangs of opener and single “Waterside“. From soaring dramatism to a fraught piano driven conclusion it is a grand entrance with a familiar feeling that should very well feel like an surprisingly opener-armed welcome for those returning to their katharses. They haven’t fully steeped in the loft of ‘Brave Murder Day‘ (just yet) as the arpeggiated layers and intimately struck leads enshrine the moment in an unmistakable gloom but the arms thrown up humility of the journey is decidedly a dominant part of Asphodelus genetic code at this point and the mythic sense of unknown arcane dread is decidedly less a part of the picture now. As we step into the pained wells of “Fallen Dreamer” the momentum feels once again familiar, perhaps making good on the Swedish death/doom romanticism with its opening leads (more of an early October Tide lick, by my observation) but soon takes a hint of Tiamat‘s contemplative expanse per ‘Clouds‘ and gives it a differently melodic directive, a soldiery which becomes a part of the main character or voice of ‘Sculpting From Time‘. Of course adjust your references how you see fit as clean vocals soon emerge and the general wilt of the song prattles on a bit.

The sensation that the listener has arrived upon a deeply crestfallen realm and into an involved, dramatist narrative is immediate as ‘Sculpting From Time‘ tarries on and this is helped along by a very present render which avoids the lump-summed brute force of ‘Stygian Dreams‘ sound design, easing away from a too-compressed space which now allows room for the leads and vocals to control the narrative in a way which is still directly indicative of the 90’s gothic/doom metal timbre; For this recording I believe the session bassist/producer roles comes from a member of Excuse, drums feature a former member of Chevalier, and once again even more subtle keyboards from Tomi Pekkola, who has worked with the band since their Cemetery Fog days, build their layers from below. With this sound design in mind, new changes to the recording lineup, and an even more accessible focus to be found in their songcraft no doubt the new landscape created herein allows for even more dramatic peaks than before, ensuring that certain songs cannot help but stand taller than others as the tracklist proceeds. Granted, Asphodelus are still on a roll as we approach “Life Painted Vermillion” and its brother-in-grief “Monuments of Deception“, one of the more captivating moods to be found on the record where it is clear they’ve not drastically outgrown their core inspiration but begin to draft their own nowadays tapestry from those sensations.

Now that hope has died within me, I do not wish to leave. — Over on Side B we find the conversation does not simply continue but the wings of Asphodelus must stretch, wrap around their vision in order to coax its complete birth. “World of Hollow” is the first attempt at this, not necessarily all-new in its modus but it does present some eclectic additions to their work per a mix of different vocal registers while also featuring a very strong bass guitar performance which winds up beneath the action as this quite long and adventurous piece realizes its strangely glowing vision. From my point of view the full listen hinges on this piece and while they mostly nail it, celestial keys and all, it doesn’t arrive with the immediacy that most of Side A had; A moment of moderne insight is missing at this point, which is filled by the neoclassical goth marbling of “The Moon in Pisces”, and this feels like a half-measure that might’ve been better filled by a stroke of darkwave, or, whatever interest beyond extreme metal might’ve escalated curiosity at this point of rest. The main redemption for the energetic lull that I’d found throughout most of the second half came with closer “Sculpting the Time”, arguably the most Varathron-meets-‘Dance of December Souls‘ moment on the record and a rousing, intoxicating endpoint for the full listen per my own tastes. Because this is easily one of my favorite moments which likewise acts to bookend well beside the opener during repeat listens, I’d accepted the full listen of ‘Sculpting From Time’ based on the overall effect even if a couple of pieces kept it from achieving unforgettable greatness front to back.

Extreme music capable of captivatingly set moodiness which elicits an emotional response, cathartic or nostalgic or both, comes few and far between in terms of any sort of artful and earnest sensation and in this sense Asphodelus have once again squarely hit the mark within their chosen niche. Though I’m not sure there should be any rush to press quickly beyond the ancient feeling that’d inspired their discography thus far the conversation is slowly turning in mind beyond “if you like this album, you’ll love this one” towards their strikes at effective hooks, ear-catching bits of songwriting which have some connection to the original imperfect-but-“real” era of gothic doom metal without sounding like a half-hearted retro concoction. It might take a few close listens to dredge up their own coloration and nuance upon the old ways but no doubt in the process of learning their craft will inevitably stick in mind and yank folks down with ’em. A high recommendation.

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