Alienation. Isolation. Social disconnection. To even the passing listener, these are themes are common—nay, even requisite—in heavy metal. What differentiates the artists who grapple with these everyday issues, however, is how they decide to proceed after exploring and ultimately expelling their angst.
Vocalist Chelsea Murphy of Dawn of Ouroboros—a bold, adventurous, blackened, progressive metal band with a warm poutine of jazz fusion—found herself in such a quandary. The band’s second record, Velvet Incandescence (Prosthetic), which came out Friday, documents her struggle with finding a place of belonging.
“Healing grounds gorgeous and seldom known, a place to take refuge from negative grips of memories past, start feeling again, to live at last,” Murphy belts out with harsh vocals on the first track, “Healing Grounds.” “Seek change and resolution, wiping the mind, making room to create.”
Murphy’s lyrics, and the ambitious Velvet Incandescence on the whole, reflect the real-life predicament she and Dawn of Ouroboros co-leader Tony Thomas faced while in limbo during a prolonged move from California to Washington State.
“This album represents longing for home,” Murphy tells New Noise on Thursday afternoon, mere hours before the release of Velvet Incandescence. “It really highlights when you’re in a situation, and you don’t feel like you have a stable home base and a sense of belonging.”
Fortunately for Murphy and Thomas—who revealed that they have become romantic partners after forming the band about five years ago—they wound up in their new house in Washington State home after a three-month logistical issue. So did their kitty-cat, “Purrsephone Jones the Dawn of Ouroboros Sphynx,” of whom we caught a glimpse in the recent video for album closer “Velvet Moon”:
From start to finish, Velvet Incandescence—the successor to 2020’s The Art of Morphology—chronicles Murphy’s journey to find her idea of home: a sanctuary where she feels a sense of belonging. Where she can rest after over exhaustion. Where she can wipe the slate clean and create anew.
The dichotomy that underlies and propels Dawn of Ouroboros’ second record and first for Prosthetic is found in the universality of the experiences that Murphy shares contrasted with Thomas’ near-microscopic focus on technical proficiency.
“This album really highlights what’s important in life: family and home,” according to Murphy, whose approach to lyrical content is a breath of fresh air for metal. “Tony and I be so close to each other is a really important part of our music and how we make it.”
With Murphy as his rock, Thomas used Velvet Incandescence as a chance to explore his prowess with guitar, through which he invokes heroes ranging from jazz-fusionists Guthrie Govan and Greg Howe to mathcore bands like the Dillinger Escape Plan.
“I used more extended chords this album, but as for my soloing, I tried to keep it improv-based and use specific scales that are more common in jazz-fusion music rather than what would traditionally be used in metal,” he said.
With Dawn of Ouroboros’ debut caught in the clog of COVID, Thomas said he immediately started writing Velvet Incandescence after completing The Art of Morphology. He described himself as “obsessed” with songwriting, while Murphy joked that he is nicknamed “Tony Too Cool” by the rest of the band, which also includes rhythm guitarist Ian Baker, bassist David Scanlon and drummer Ron Bertrand.
“I try to make stuff singable,” Thomas says of the band’s cascading, boundless music. “I don’t play highly technical solos. Shredding guitars and playing very technical are popular in metal, but… when you steer away from that and have something somebody can sing to—even if it’s just a guitar solo—that does allow a wider audience to connect with the music emotionally, rather than just in an intellectual way.”
It all sounds very heady, that’s because it is. But Murphy and Thomas freely admitted they were staving off some pre-release—and pre-tour—jitters. Not only were they about to release their first album uninterrupted by COVID the next morning, they were also getting ready to pile into their tour van shortly thereafter for a series of shows.
In celebration of Velvet Incandescence’s release, Dawn of Ouroboros are playing a gig a day, mostly along the West Coast. The run started Friday and lasts through Saturday. Joining them for the ride are Ashbringer, atmospheric black-metal vets about whom Murphy and Thomas both raved. He said Dawn of Ouroboros hope to play 50 shows in 2023, which would be a record for them.
“We’re still a pretty young band, and especially with the pandemic being the bigger part of our first album’s release… we don’t know kind of turnouts we’d be getting,” Thomas admits.
No matter what unfolds on the road while they support Velvet Incandescence, Murphy and Thomas can at least rest assured that they have a place to go to, a place called home, waiting for them when the trip is over.
Dawn of Ouroboros and Ashbringer tour dates:
4/23 – San Diego, CA – Til Two Club
4/24 – Phoenix, AZ – Yucca
4/25 – Salt Lake City, UT – Kilby Court
4/26 – Boise, ID – The Shredder
4/27 – Tacoma, WA – The Plaid Pig
4/28 – Seattle, WA – Substation
4/29 – Portland, OR – Mano Oculta
