Band:	Asphodelus
Album:	Sculpting From Time
Style:	Death doom metal
Release date:	August 2023

01. Waterside
02. Fallen Dreamer
03. Life Painted Vermilion
04. Monuments Of Deception
05. World Of Hollow
06. Where Sirens Wept
07. The Moon In Pisces
08. Sculpting The Time

Does the thought of some ultra-melodic Finnish death doom sound pleasing to your ears? Well, if the answer is yes, then Asphodelus's Sculpting From Time shouldn't disappoint.

Asphodelus is a Finnish melodic death doom act featuring Jari Filppu (guitars/bass/vocals), J. Väyrynen (bass), Joonas Rantala (guitars), and Ilkka Narinen (drums), who up until 2016 were known as Cemetery Fog. Back in 2019 they released their impressive full-length debut, Stygian Dreams, and now return four years later post-pandemic with their sophomore release Sculpting From Time, and what a great and worthy follow-up it is. For starters, this band is from the country Finland, and we should all know by now what to expect; when a newly formed Finnish metal act emerges into the scene, chances are they're going to be the real deal. Finland is a country that has been renowned for providing a ton of top-quality extreme melancholic metal acts in recent years, and believe me, Asphodelus are absolutely no exception in this case.

Starting off, we have the exceptional twin guitar work; the melodic leads and riffs scream out Finnish melodeath, Insomnium in particular, on more than one occasion, and those melodic leads and riffs remain a striking feature throughout the album. There are also some pleasing twinkling background synths that play a major role in providing the stunning enchanting, doomy atmospheric soundscapes we have here, whilst the powerful thundering (mostly mid-paced) drumming and heavy bass ultimately control the album's changing rhythm and solid flow. At the exact right opportunities, the softer passages take over from the more upbeat sections, and due to some exceptional songwriting, the rhythm never seems to feel out of place. The harsh growls are both passionate and emotive, and not just typically harsh but rather have a touch of melody to them, occasionally even containing an echoing, howling presence. The growls are also accompanied by some stunningly performed cleans. These cleans are haunting and chant-like and come in for the softer sections, fitting in particularly comfortably with the acoustic passages.

The album contains several stand-out moments, but none more so for me than the track "World Of Hollow". This is just about the longest track on the album at just under eight minutes in length, and opens up with a beautifully constructed gentle riff melody, before the deep, haunting, chant-like clean vocals are introduced behind the instrumentation, with added great effect. The heavy deep growls then take over the cleans whilst the track goes from soft and gentle to heavy and doomy, all before a striking guitar solo comes in. Following the solo, the track more or less repeats itself, and you experience its beauty all over again. Another moment worth mentioning is the album-ending title track, which is preceded by a short acoustic-based interlude titled "The Moon In Pisces". This intro features some beautifully angelic female singing, as well as a soft female spoken word; this is accompanied by a pleasant acoustic guitar melody, which leads to the final track, "Sculpting The Time". This closes the album in epic fashion, with the twin guitar work providing some truly mesmerizing melodies, the drumming and bass pleasantly carrying those melodies forward, and the growls being all the more passionate, whilst the haunting cleans are introduced several times more.

Overall, some would say this is where death doom simply ventures into 'too soft' territory, perhaps a touch too melodic even? But then, I'm a real sucker for this kind of approach anyway; now, if death doom with catchy songwriting, performed with true passion is not really your thing, then perhaps funeral doom is? Or maybe this album/band is not for you personally. But regardless, I would highly recommend this album if you liked Fires In The Distance's Air Not Meant For Us, The Crawling's All Of This For Nothing, and/or Shores Of Null's The Loss Of Beauty which were released earlier this year (if you haven't checked either of those releases out, I highly recommend in doing so). As for where Asphodelus's Sculpting From Time is concerned, I would simply hate to see this pass by any death doom fan.