“Evergreen animates expansive imagery, stirring notes with cerulean bodies of calm rippled surfaces …. Healing grounds, enlighten. To catch fire and fire down over the problematic uncertainties”. This lyrical extract from “Healing Grounds”, the opening track of this second album from Dawn of Ouroboros, suggests something away from the ordinary. This isn’t a band that I knew about previously. All I had to go on was the sheet of rich lyrics and the information that the band is known for its hybrid style of progressive, atmospheric black and death metal music.

Those lyrics and the woozy ambiance that runs through “Healing Grounds” suggests something airy and psychedelic. Impressively it explodes into a death metal growl and we find ourselves faced with ferocity, the fast beat of the drums and darkness, enhanced further by a guitar solo. Dreamland returns for a second or two before the further onset of chunking death metal. It’s not a simple affair, but what it does have is a human connection in its mix of dreaminess and epic despair. The pace is stepped up on the melodic metal of “Testudines”. Blackened death darkness prevails amid the soaring energy. Haunting vocals share the stage with growls but all in all “Testudines” is an exciting adventure. Chelsea Murphy‘s spoken words are an evocative appeal. By contrast “Iron Whispers” starts in a calmer way but the dark power is always there as Dawn of Ouroboros whip up a sinister storm. The drum exudes authority. The guitar work is magnificent, and along with the haunting vocals create an ethereal atmosphere. Through the structure and flow of the songs, Dawn of Ouroboros keep us captivated.

One slight negative for me was the band’s tendency to put me in a trance and then break me out of it. It’s not that the passages are bad, in fact the opposite, but as on “Levitating Pacifics”, a wondrous passage is rudely interrupted by a deathly growl and the universe takes a different, albeit impressively majestic, direction, rising both unexpectedly into further great heights. “Levitating Pacifics” is like three masterpieces in one. The band maintain the momentum with “Rise from Disillusion”, another mind-blowing lofty adventure where we are guided through a metal storm. The storm momentarily subsides, and through lush guitar work and that eerie, haunting voice we can reflect. Pompously but without being showy this epic piece moves on, all instrumental guns blazing. The band mixes metal power with emotive heights, and in doing so has created a monster. An eerie opening sequence signals in the pounding beat of “Castigation”. As ever it is layered in such a way that while the main riff drags us in, the rest of it takes us to wondrous epic heights. The song is nicely rounded off by an echoing spoken section, mirroring the start and completing the circle. “Cephalopodic Void” starts with a sinister hymn, the prequel to pumping exotic death metal darkness and a spooky undercurrent. Never following a directly similar pattern, “Velvet Moon” finally reaches to the stars and touches us with its lofty and heavy death metal power.

This album invaded my mind and soul with its power and multi-layered creativity. “Velvet Incandescence” is sublime and inspiring. Dawn of Ouroboros scale musical heights, moving from one peak to another. The vocal arrangements match the epic force and sophistication of the instrumental work. This band has created a structural masterpiece. “Velvet Incandescence” brought me great joy.

(9/10 Andrew Doherty)

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https://dawnofouroboros.bandcamp.com/album/velvet-incandescence