asphodel
aokigahara, the black sea of trees
(ib009) LP

cover photo by tarrl lightowler
design by matthew swiezynski
mastered by a.f. jones

aokigahara, the black sea of trees is an abstract visual and sonic story-telling which takes place in a forest located in mount fuji, japan. the forest of aokigahara, has a world-wide fame for the thousands of suicides which took place there and now has an almost mythological statue. since 2004, government stopped publishing the statistics of suicides to reduce the popularity of it.
the forest is spread all through with ephemera and items such as photographs, letters and instruments left behind by the leavers, all untouched due to respect. almost entire forest is covered with long ribbons people used to be able to return if they changed their mind. therefore, the entire land is embodied with the vicarious objects that depict the sense of memory, loss and hope.
the auditory side of this album can be related to musical genres such as ambient and drone, but also of importance to this album is film and film abstraction; the experience of light moving in time, as for example the work of stan brakhage. an audio story-telling which derives from the contrast between dark and intense sounds to more delicate and quiet auditory landscapes, where the sense of an intrinsic lament is always present, and stepping into the oblivion gets distilled into pure sensation, that of belonging to life and hope. asphodel puts an emphasis on the romantic, that of life relived through the forest.

ASPHODEL
asphodel is a musical and visual project of atay ilgun and alper yildirim started in 2012. asphodel, focuses on textural music and it's combination with experimental film. it's infrastructure is always contextual and subtext is as significant as sound and vision.
their first project aokigahara, the black sea of trees - released within the duos very own publishing house and record label wounded wolf press -, was critically acclaimed as it was chosen as one of the best albums released that year by highly prestigious websites such as 'a closer listen'. it was performed live on various venues and events in istanbul including a performance in istanbul industrial fest. after more than five different editions released by their own imprint which was distributed all over the globe and sold-out, now, this album is being published on LP by invisible birds

link to hq video; https://vimeo.com/80225779
short trailer; https://vimeo.com/49553075