Rescuing another long-out-of-print album from the dustbin of history, Svart Records re-issued Winter Into Darkness — with the “Eternal Frost” demo previously released as the Eternal Frost EP — on April 27, 2020, as a deluxe edition on 2CD and vinyl.

The label issued the following statement:

The ultimate edition on CD. Housed in a heavy-duty double digipak, the set features the original Into Darkness album on the first disc and the demo Eternal Frost on the second. There’s also a heavy booklet with every possible piece of Winter memorabilia imaginable.

Perpetually out of print, much sought after and universally worshipped amongst those in the know, Winter’s Into Darkness was a game-changing classic.

Formed in New York circa 1988, Winter played slow, deep and hard nuclear doom with a crust punk rawness, that came across like Hellhammer jamming with Amebix. Their penchant for mammoth sized and funeral-paced, wasteland droning has become a touchstone reference for bands across the whole spectrum of underground metal.

Their pre-internet infamy led to Winter demos being tape- traded in hallowed adoration by fans and bands alike, gaining notable fans such as Fenriz from Darkthrone. Deserving of their special place in the pantheon of one-off classic albums, the Swans-like noise and down-tuned Earth-like riffs of Into Darkness went on to spawn countless doom and sludge bands, being an influence for an entire doomed generation.

The Winter come-back show at Roadburn Festival in 2011 was massively anticipated and held a captivated audience. Packing out one of The Netherlands largest stages, that particular Winter show, after many years in obscurity is a rare event that is still highly regarded today. The band is a rare jewel amongst collectors, and audiences alike.

Svart Records is proud to re-release Into Darkness once more, having only been reissued once in a limited edition during this millennium, putting the album back in print for a new generation of listeners. This reprint notably also features the legendary demo which was only reissued on a mini-cd in 1995, now finally on vinyl.

The double CD package will feature a large lush booklet, and the double vinyl set comes in a slipcase box with a luxury 32 page magazine, with every imaginable press clipping and piece of memorabilia about Winter ever produced!

Into Darkness was a gateway drug to the dark depths of sludge metal, and now awaits a whole new throng of acolytes who bow down before the throne of heavy doom. Eternal Winter awaits!

Tracklist
Disc 1 – Into Darkness:

1. Oppression Freedom
2. Servants of The Warsmen
3. Goden
4. Power and Might
5. Destiny
6. Eternal Frost
7. Into Darkness

Disc 2 – The Demo

1. Servants of the Warsmen
2. Eternal Frost
3. Winter
4. Blackwhole
5. Manifestation I

The band continues as a new act named Goden which has also been published by Svart Records:

piritual successor to the band Winter to release their new album Beyond Darkness on the 8th of May 2020, along with Winter album & demo reissue via Svart Records!

Goden‘s new track Glowing Red Sun is a 9:13 trip into the heaviest doom-scapes you are likely to hear this year!

Svart will release Goden’s new album Beyond Darkness, along with luxury, ultimate reissues of the Winter debut album, Into Darkness and demo.

Goden is the spiritual successor to Winter, a band that has been heavily influential and highly revered in the metal underground since its inception and treasured demos. A long-awaited continuation of what Winter would have been from co-founder Stephen Flam’s vision, the new album Beyond Darkness throws us into an existential voyage out of the past and into the future. A familiar yet distinctive new opus that expands the unmapped shadow world that Winter once opened in our nightmares.

A soundtrack that takes the listener on a dark and ominous journey, Beyond Darkness is a conceptual deep dive into wildly unexplored and unknown sonic territory. The story has three characters, each with different symbols: Stephen Flam as “Spacewinds”, the time and space in which these characters dwell; Vas Kallas as “NXYTA (Goddess of Night)”, lead vocalist and the darkness: Tony Pinnisi as “The Prophet of Goden”, who speaks in the name of Goden and is the light, plays keyboards and also played in Winter. Beyond Darkness is a tale of the dark and the light, set to a score of heavy music.

The artwork was conceived by Eva Petric, a Slovene multimedia artist based in Vienna, Austria and New York. Eva worked with Stephen Flam, creating a visual story book within the LP/CD booklet that the listener can look at while they are consumed by this heavy sound trip.

Stephen Flam leaves us in the outer blackness and inner gloom with these last words as ethereal guidance: “I hope you enjoy this endeavor – Listen with a free and open mind… Journey now Beyond Darkness” …

Formed in New York circa 1988, Winter played slow, deep and hard nuclear doom with a crust punk rawness, that came across like Hellhammer jamming with Amebix. Their penchant for mammoth sized and funeral-paced, wasteland droning has become a touchstone reference for bands across the whole spectrum of underground metal.
Their pre-internet infamy led to Winter demos being tape- traded in hallowed adoration by fans and bands alike, gaining notable fans such as Fenriz from Darkthrone. Deserving of their special place in the pantheon of one-off classic albums, the Swans-like noise and down-tuned Earth-like riffs of Into Darkness went on to spawn countless doom and sludge bands, being an influence for an entire doomed generation.

Beyond Darkness is released on the 8th of May 2020.

Tracklist
1. Glowing Red Sun
2. Manifestation I: Tolling Death Bells
3. Twilight
4. Manifestation II: A New Order
5. Cosmic Blood
6. Manifestation III: The Spawn of Malevolence
7. Komm Susser Tod
8. Genesis Rise
9. Manifestation IV: The Progeny of Goden
10. Dark Nebula
11. Manifestation V: The Epoch of Goden
12. I Am Immortal
13. Manifestation VI: The Beginning And The End
14. Ego Eimie Gy
15. Manifestation VII: Gaia Rejuvenated
16. Night
17. Manifestation VIII: A New Age
18. Thundering Silence
19. Winter

You can acquire your copy at the Svart Records store.

Tags: death metal, death-doom, Doom Metal, goden, svart records, Winter