Interview with doom death metal band from Finland - ASPHODELUS.
Answered Jari Filppu (bass, guitars, vocals), thank you!
Translated Duzl, thank you!
Questions prepared Jakub Asphyx.
Recenze/review - ASPHODELUS - Sculpting from Time (2023):
Ave ASPHODELUS! It's been a while since your label Hammerheart Records sent me an album to review. And immediately with your new album "Sculpting from Time" you have reached the imaginary top of my personal doom death metal chart together with the new SATURNUS. The first time I encountered the new album was in the chilly weather, when it got very cold. It was very pleasant for me to just listen, read and let the time pass. How was the album made and how do you think it differs from the previous album "Stygian Dreams"?
Asphodelus: Thanks for the kind words, glad you liked the album! The album was made from Jari’s home demos that were then worked on together as a band. Then we recorded the songs in a makeshift studio in an abandoned casino in the middle of nowhere. As for differences between the albums: We have matured as musicians from Stygian Dreams, because this time around we came to the studio more prepared, the songs are more intricately composed and honed with lots of thought-out layers and guitar harmonies.
Let's go back in history a bit. ASPHODELUS was formed as a continuation of CEMETERY FOG. Why the name change? It's not easy to start over nowadays. How did you guys get together in the first place and why did you choose doom death metal?
Asphodelus: We met each other in school and formed the initial line-up for Cemetery Fog there. Cemetery Fog relied on horror themes and really murky black/doom metal. Then our sound and lyrical themes started to evolve, and it got to the point where we thought that we needed a new name to reflect the new sounds and thoughts. We chose to pursue doom/death metal with Asphodelus because for us, that kind of music just hits so hard emotionally.
The new stuff has exactly the kind of cool, clear sound that I really like. It's signed by the master Marco S. Vermiglio. We all know his work for MAYHEM. I'm curious to know how did you guys work together and why him? With what feelings did you leave the studio?
Asphodelus: When we were making our debut album, our then-label head Stefano of Terror from Hell suggested Marco to us, and Marco did such a great job that we wanted to make this album with him too. The recording was rough at times, but Marco came through again and we are satisfied and happy with the results.
The lyrics on your records are about death, sadness, pain. Where do you get inspiration for them?
Asphodelus: The lyrics are informed by life itself and lived experiences. Much of the pain comes from the feeling of living a life as a human in disharmony while also having the idea of a more harmonic way of living, and from a distorted sense of time, where thoughts of a reassuring past, an intoxicated and blurry present and a vaguely terrifying future live on in the mind simultaneously. These thoughts are then tied to romantic, mythological, and literary themes. The title of the second album is a reference to Tarkovsky.
There's a beautiful female vocal in "The Moon in Pisces". I'm afraid I can't find out who she is? This song is very captivating for me personally, who is the artist behind it and how was it created?
Asphodelus: Her name is Rosanna Mantila, and she sings in an indie-rock band called Ajastaika. Jari wrote the lyrics and Anselmi and Joonas wrote the song, and it was created as an intro for the last song, so it was made from the foundation of the last song.
Does Finnish nature influence you in any way? Every time I hear a band from your country, I think that you can put such a special mood, melancholy in your songs. A lot of times I would take the album to the woods near my home, just outside the city, and it felt like I was somewhere up north.
Asphodelus: The Finnish woods breathe life into us. Breathing in the fresh countryside air or taking a walk by the side of a lake gives time for the mind to reflect. And the ominous feeling of driving at a dark forest road with a good album playing or walking in the woods with only a flashlight is such a powerful feeling, even if it raises some discomfort from time to time. The new album was indeed recorded in the middle of a forest, isolated from any human contact.
According to wikipedia, Finland has 5.5 million inhabitants. The Czech Republic has ten. We have a lot of metal bands here too, but definitely not as many as you. Does that mean you have a musician in every family? I wonder why you have so many bands? And I'm not talking about the mainstream, but the underground (I love PURTENANCE!). What do you explain it with?
Asphodelus: It feels like many young people have picked up an instrument and everyone has multiple bands going on, that could explain why! And we also appreciate the Czech scene, we love Drakar and Master’s Hammer, just to mention a couple!
How do you perceive your scene? Gigs, fans, labels? There are quite a lot of concerts in our country, but only some of them are well attended. Plus, I feel like the young fans are already listening to something a bit different.
Asphodelus: We find the scene to be really cool at the moment. There are many gigs going on, and there are many up-and-coming festivals that are solidifying their place (Hellsinki Metal Festival, Helsinki Death Fest). Especially at HDF there were many younger bands playing, and there are many very promising youngster bands, like Disguised Malignance and Malformed. Maybe the madness of youth will never subside.
Personally, I find "Sculpting from Time" to be such a perfectly polished stylistic gem, but it can also appeal to fans outside of doom death metal. The album is raw, but it also has a lot of memorable melodies. Where do you want to take the band? What is your goal? Someone is attracted by big festivals, someone wants a famous label. What are your dreams?
Asphodelus: As long as someone publishes our music, gives us a budget for studio time and we get to play our music around the world, we are living the dream. It’s also really heart-warming when people come up to say that our music resonates with them emotionally. The further we can take this thing, the better, but we are grateful for where we are today.
How did you get into music in the first place? Who was your role model? First gig? First gig as a musician? How about some wild experiences, readers are always interested in that:)).
Asphodelus: There’s a picture of me as a toddler, sucking a pacifier and holding a guitar naked while pointing to the camera, so I guess that’s when I knew I wanted to be a rockstar. Then, when I was 4-5 years old, my older brother used to have a melodic death metal band (Cold Waste, you can get demos from me if you want. Tomi Pekkola, who has helped our band immensely over the years also played in it) and they trained in our barn. I carried my small drum set outside the barn and tried to play along. My brother was my first musical role model, who also inspired me to get boots later on.
Then, when I was 10-11 years old, I heard Deep Purple’s Highway Star and there was no stopping after it. After Ritchie Blackmore came Alexi Laiho and Chuck Schuldiner. My first gig was a KISS concert. Our first gig with Cemetery Fog was in PRKL-club in Helsinki.
As for wild experiences… we had a tour in the Balkans with fellow Finnish band Kuilu. The tour was cool as fuck, but some of the conditions were quite funny. A lot of alcohol was abused and the venues were of varying quality. In Romania, some Finnish student noticed our gig and came and brought us a “care package” – an empty Camel pack with weed and speed inside, hah. Our last gig in Croatia was basically in a cube-shaped room filled with cigarette smoke under the ground with only one narrow stairway up and no ventilation at all. The venue got its’ electricity by siphoning it from an electricity pole directly with a very hazardous-looking extension cable mess that the venue’s sound technician referred to as “banana”. We weren’t afraid of dying during that gig, but we knew that if anything happened at all, survival would have been impossible.
Also, our first gig abroad as Cemetery Fog in Germany, when we were about 19 years old got out of hand really quickly. The trip was just boozing around the clock, with trips to a nearby gas station for more vodka at 4am being a repeating occurrence. At least the gig went well, even though we had some technical difficulties at the venue. When we were leaving the hotel at the end, one of us tripped into wet cement, destroying the new floor. Damn we were stupid.
I'd be interested in your relationship to music. What does it mean to you? Is it a hobby? A lifestyle?
Asphodelus: It’s a lifestyle, it’s everything. It’s listening to music and creating music alone to make life more tolerable, and it’s also social when we get together as a band or when we attend gigs and see other people. It’s just constant.
What is ASPHODELUS planning in the near future?
Asphodelus: We’ve already started working on new material now that we have a defined line-up. We’re also looking to play as many gigs as possible. Anyone reading this, you can shoot us an inquiry for a gig to asphodelusdoom@hotmail.com. NOTE! We are more well-behaved nowadays than in the stories we just told! Maybe.
Thank you very much for the interview, I appreciate it. I guess you can guess what I'm going to do. Sure, I'm going to go out into the woods and I'm going to take your new release "Sculpting from Time" with me. It's delicious! I wish it sells well and that you are happy in your personal lives.
Asphodelus: Thank you for the interview, this was a blast! Have fun in the woods, brother! If you ever come to Finland, hit us up and we can go pick blueberries in the woods.
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