Asphodelus "Stygian Dreams" Black vinyl!!

After the mini-album 'Dying Beauty & The Silent Sky' on Iron Bonehead and a rehearsal demo 'The Veil Between the Worlds' on Terror From Hell records, the Finnish band Asphodelus has signed again on TFH for the first album.
'Stygian Dreams' contains seven songs of sorrowful 'Gothic' Doom/Death Metal of the gloomiest kind. This forlorn manifesto showcasing the band as one of the most interesting acts in the genre today. The Finnish trio music formula comprises early Katatonia, Anathema, My Dying Bride and Tiamat influences, yet keeping a distinctive feature in their sound. Don't be fooled by the somewhat clean riffage and melodic solos, they are just a wishful thinking before the whole thing sink down again in the gloomy pit. Harsh and melancholic screams enhance the hopelessness of the whole thing, throwing tuneful keyboards in their desperate sonic cauldron, heightened by a good hint of finnish renowned “masennus” (read, depression).
Analogically recorded in Finland and definitely mixed at The Devil's Mark Studio in Rome (Demonomancy, Destroyer 666).
Cover artwork doesn't need to be presented, used with kind permission of The Leicester Galleries.
Listen to this will give you the feeling to sail between Styx's waters, as well as being in the sight of Persephone, crowned with a garland of asphodels.

Stygian Dreams feels like a project lovingly crafted and passionately executed. Asphodelus is the brainchild of three Finnish gentlemen, of whom Jari Filppu bore the largest burden in the recording process, taking on vocals, bass, and some guitar duties. Themes of bearing burdens and grouping in small numbers seems appropriate, given that the most obvious influence on Asphodelus is the debut album Dance of December Souls of then-understaffed Katatonia (given that vocalist Jonas Renkse also occupied the drum stool). Stygian Dreams is attended with the same sense of unfathomable, philosophical sorrow; the same spaciously melodic guitars, even a similar airy guitar tone; the same brainwave of asking your producer to play keyboards, a task by which Tomi Pekkola makes the album doubly epic. And yet, Asphodelus manage to turn their debut into something a little more than mere Katatonia worship.
Even from the tumescent orchestral introduction, it’s easy to tell that the band is onto something special. The lushness of the piece is exquisite and constitutes perhaps the finest opening to a doom death album you are ever likely to hear. The seven main songs are crafted in the same way, attention to detail overpowering notions of plagiarism, as the early ‘90s sound is brought to life in all its crawling, complex glory. Asphodelus achieve a high level of diversity and ingenuity without either straying from their chosen paradigm or indulging in lengthy songs. Only the closing ‘Where Freezing Spirits Fall’ ventures over seven minutes, while half of the songs are done in five, managing to pack in the riffs and aching melodies of much longer compositions within that time.
The keyboards bring to life some of the simpler riffing, while ventures into quicker deathly sections on ‘Sleep of Eternity’ and ‘Lamentation of the Lost Soul’ surprise by their fluidity and catchiness. What will truly bring listeners back time and again to Stygian Dreams, however, is the sprawling atmosphere of the album, created and maintained by each element fitting together into a seamless display. With as much care as Asphodelus have put into their debut, appreciating the end result feels instinctive.

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