UMUR "Eternal Frost" is an EP release by US, New York/Long Island based death/doom metal act Winter. The EP was released through Nuclear Blast Records in 1994. "Eternal Frost" is a reissue of the material from Winter´s 1989 eponymously titled demo tape plus the addtional track "Manifestations I". Although the droning/ambient noise of "Manifestations I" isn´t exactly worth the price of admission, a reissue of the 1989 demo makes a lot more sense, as the original cassette tape demo was limited to 200 copies, and was at this point in time a sought after object by fans of the band´s 1990 debut album "Into Darkness". Other than the addition of "Manifestations I" one other change has been made to the original demo material from 1989, as the track "Hour of Doom" has been given the new title "Blackwhole". Otherwise nothing has been changed.

Stylistically Winter play an early example of death/doom metal. It´s predominantly bass, heavy guitar riffs, drums, and intelligible growling vocals, and only occasionally lead guitars provide some atmosphere. The heavy organic grooves and the memorable songwriting keep the music flowing and interesting throughout and the fact that not all tracks are ultra heavy doom dirges also provide the EP with some variation. A track like "Servants of the Warsmen" is for example a mid-paced death metal affair, rather than a death/doom metal track.

"Eternal Frost" is a well sounding and very well produced EP, and the fact that most of the material is culled directly from a 1989 demo makes it even more impressive that Winter have managed to produce such a well sounding release. "Eternal Frost" is upon conclusion a good quality death/doom metal release, featuring a relatively unique sound (although the Celtic Frost influences shine through) and a 3.5 star (70%) rating is deserved. If you can´t find neither the demo nor the 1994 EP... despair not...as the material is included on the reissue versions of "Into Darkness" (1990).