In progressive metal circles, the names of guitarist Jim Matheos and vocalist John Arch are spoken with due reverence. With the former having been a driving force in Fates Warning for thirty-five years, and the latter the original front-man of that band, they also have a single seminal work under the Arch / Matheos banner, 2011's Sympathetic Resonance. In 2019, they have reunited to follow that record up with Winter Ethereal, a more stylistically varied and perhaps deeper collection that explores a lot of sonic territory over the course of nine immersive tracks. While not a concept album, Arch asserts that "anyone who takes the time to read the lyrics will probably connect with a recurring theme touching on the mysterious weight or flight of human emotion that leaves us with more questions than answers." In the context of the title, rather than referring to the season, Winter was chosen for having "certain connotations sometimes associated with it, such as isolation, a withering to rebirth", and with Ethereal meaning "not of this world, or otherworldly", there came a "meaningful marriage between the two words that best summed up the theme of the album". For the most part, Arch's lyrics come as a reaction to the music Matheos presents him with, letting the thoughts and feelings evoked dictate the direction. Enjoying listeners making their own interpretation of his lyrics, he typically does not go into detail about specific tracks, but as an example of the direction he was drawn, he references "Pitch Black Prism" and the many influences that went into shaping it. One thing is certain, with Winter Ethereal, fans of Arch / Matheos will feel that the long wait endured for new music has been worth it.
