Winter Eternal continues its rise.
Born in Greece under the name Unveiled Nightsky, the project moved to Scotland in 2018 and began to really break through shortly thereafter. In 2026, its creator Stelios “Soulreaper” Makris (guitar/bass/vocals), still signed to Hells Headbangers Records, announced the release of his fifth album, Unveiled Nightsky.
Drums were recorded by former drummer Vagelis “V.Nuctemeron” Felonis (Burial Hordes, Necrovorous…).
Born Of Winter’s Breath immediately plunges us into the musician’s icy Melodic Black Metal, revealing his obvious and intoxicating Old School influences in the harmonics, but also very fierce, especially in the vocals. The track is very direct and ends a little too quickly for my taste, but Omen Of The Cosmic Order immediately takes its place, its intro already striking hard as it reveals slightly different touches, particularly on the break. Fury returns to the rhythm in due course to lead us to Nurtured By The Night, where an hypnotic section awaits us before the tornado comes back to life at a similar pace, distilling piercing leads within its darkness. We once again encounter the calm of the eye of the storm, including clear vocals, then once again give way to saturation that leads to Unveiled Nightsky, the eponymous track where we feel even more the icy sound that surrounds us and strikes us relentlessly, taking advantage of a raw and aggressive base. The end of the track is marked by particularly intense screams, then it is with Descent Into Hades Embrace that the musician grants us a respite, before reviving his ancestral rage with dissonant and well-paced occult touches, as well as that imposing sound after a short pause. The sound is deliberately very dirty, almost chaotic, and offers us one last powerful wave before giving way to The Deceiver’s Tale, which, as its name suggests, adopts a touch of melancholy, almost regret, reinforced by the plaintive vocals. The grief is tinged with fury thanks to a jerky section and sends us towards Echoes Of A Fallen Crown, which welcomes us with a haunting bass line, followed by new shrill and nostalgic riffs that break and then resume under a striking veil before Drifting Into the Depths of Oblivion marks the end of this album with guitar and violin naturally combining to sound the death knell.
While Winter Eternal showcases some excellent ideas that pay homage to the roots of the genre, it quickly becomes apparent that Unveiled Nightsky suffers from one flaw: it is short. The tracks deserve more development to fully realize their potential.
70/100
