WINTER ETERNAL return with their boldest record yet: Echoes of Primordial Gnosis. While immediately recognizable as the same WINTER ETERNAL that delivered the preceding modern classic, Echoes of Primordial Gnosis just-as-prominently displays a greater usage of dynamics, particularly those revolving around acoustic and clean-stringed instruments such as cello. Similarly, the still-impassioned playing has been giving an uptick in intensity and analog spirit through session drums by V. Nuctemeron (Sacral Rage, Chainsaw), lending warmth - nay, burning desire! - to the band's ever-characteristic attack. Soulreaper, for his part, gives a masterclass in spiraling, twilit melodicism: hammering and mesmerizing at first, but his riffs become rippling layers of majesty and mayhem that seemingly echo back on each other, proving that there's indeed complexity in simplicity of design. Form meeting content, in every sense - and likewise for Mars Triumph's symbolic cover artwork. No longer the black metal underground's best-kept-secret, WINTER ETERNAL step fully into the halls of greatness with Echoes of Primordial Wisdom.