U.S. epic heavy metal band Eternal Winter have unveiled the cover art for their upcoming new album Archaic Lore Enshrined: Songs Of Savage Swords And Dark Mysticism.

Vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Matthew Knight has released the following statement about the new album cover:

“The upcoming album will feature songs based on sword and sorcery, gothic literature, and other written works of the dark and fantastic. Several tracks are about stories from the Weird Tales pulp-era of which I am a big fan of. One that I chose to write about from this genre was C.L. Moore's Hellsgarde which was first published in 1939. It is a Gothic-inspired ghost story and one of my very favorites. The song featured on the album, simply titled, Hellsgarde is a dark epic of supernatural eeriness, and the lengthiest track on the record (clocking in at right around 13 minutes). Although I chose to make the album's title more extensive, I consider this particular song to be what some people might consider a ‘title-track’ of sorts…

“Moore’s Jirel of Joiry tales are masterpieces of dark fantasy bejeweled with rare words, and flashes of macabre weirdness—all containing a mystical, dreamy quality about them that conjure up a true sense of other worldliness. I wanted to find an artist who would be able capture this kind of atmosphere as well as convey the emotions that I felt when reading the story for the first time. We ended up choosing to work with a brilliant artist from New Orleans named Louis Braquet. The album cover portrays the opening scene of Hellsgarde where Jirel is mounted on her warhorse observing the haunted castle brooding in the shining marshes that surround it at sunset. We feel that Louis did an absolutely fantastic job! I am very fond of the warm tones, and the overall mystical vibe of the piece. It captures the essence of the scene—a foreboding strangeness looming over the beautiful countryside of medieval France, darkly blighted by sorcery and the supernatural.”

Eternal Winter is currently wrapping up final recording sessions for their new album, and is now moving into the mixing stage. A release date will be announced soon.