Fucking hell, I hope I get to go to Desertfest Oslo. Conan and Dopelord and 16 on top of the likes of Dozer, King Buffalo and Pelican. Even down to Astralplane — their new record is badass, I have it pending for a review — and White Tundra (please don’t put them in the tiny room!), there’s no real letup. Howling Giant, Bottenhavet, Moonstone, Daevar, High Desert Queen. It’s just killer.

I write about a lot of festivals. Feels like especially in the last couple weeks, the Spring season in Europe has really taken shape. Desertfest Oslo 2026 has an essential role in that, as it feeds into the subsequent Desertfest Berlin and Desertfest London, as well as other festivals happening throughout May and into June. And that’s always cool, and I’ll look forward to those tour announcements as well, but my principal insight here is what I said in the first sentence. I was lucky enough to get to Oslo for Desertfest this year, and I very, very much want to go again in ’26.

The now-complete lineup, of course, is a significant part of why. From socials:

DESERTFEST OSLO 2026 – FINAL LINEUP ANNOUNCEMENT

Oh hey, here we are already!

Things have been cooking intensely over the last couple of weeks, and we are finally ready to announce the complete lineup for Desertfest Oslo.

No matter how grey, moist and rainy it feels these days, the sun will soon be turning, and its beams set on Oslo, to light this city of Satan completely on fire May 8th and 9th, 2026.

The lineup is hotter than hell, and we hope it will add some sparkle to your holiday preparations.

Consider it a RIFFmas gift 🔥

A glimpse of light and fuzz.
A state of mind to look forward to.
Beyond the X-mas buzz.
From all of us, to all of you.

Lots of love from your Desertfest Oslo crew!

Please welcome:

🏜️ UK´s doom lords CONAN.

🏜️ Norwegian stoner rock legends THULSA DOOM.

🏜️ Polish fuzz maestros DOPELORD.

🏜️ American sludge beast -16-,

🏜️ Italian stallions MR.BISON.

🏜️ Norwegian cosmonauts ASTRALPLANE.

🏜️ The new HEAVY from Sweden HEXJAKT

🏜️ Rising Italian psych masters GIOBIA.

🏜️ Local Norwegian powerhouses WHITE TUNDRA and BIG RIP.

Secure your tickets and see you in May.

This will be a banger 🔥

Tickets: https://www.ticketmaster.no/event/desertfest-oslo-2026-festivalpass-8-9mai-billetter/931528219

https://www.desertfest.no/
https://www.instagram.com/desertfest_oslo
https://www.facebook.com/desertfestoslo

Conan, Violence Dimension (2025)

16, Guides for the Misguided (2025)

With Slomosa‘s global takeover of the heavy rock underground well underway, there’s probably nobody better to have sitting at the top of the poster for the inaugural edition of the Tundra and Lightning Festival, set for this Oct. 3-4 in the band’s hometown of Bergen, Norway. They’re hardly alone, as the lineup revealed today shows they’ll be joined by Orange Goblin for what will be their last Norwegian show as they wrap their 30-year career arc, as well as The Good the Bad and the Zugly, Spidergawd, Audrey Horne, Thulsa Doom (oldschool, good pick), and a slew of upstarts further down the bill.

It’s a first-year, feel-it-out kind of two-dayer, but they’ve got the aesthetic and concept on lock, as well as the lineup, and for something that’s just months away from happening for the first time, that’s not nothing. With Begen as an epicenter for a rising generation of heavy rockers throughout Norway and Scandinavia more broadly, and festivals happening everywhere all the time throughout Europe, in Fall or otherwise, this just makes a lot of sense to me. Will be cool to see how it builds over the next few years as well.

From social media:

Tundra and Lightning Festival October 3 – 4 2025!

Ticket link: https://www.ticketmaster.no/event/344497371

Bergen Live and USF Verftet are joining forces to present a brand new rock festival in Bergen on the first weekend of October 2025. Tundra and Lightning is the festival that Bergen needs. The festival will make full use of the entire USF venue and will grow each year in line with the development of the USF Cultural Quarter.

Lineup:
⚡Slomosa
⚡The Good The Bad And The Zugly
⚡Orange Goblin (UK)
⚡ Audrey Horne
⚡ Thulsa Doom
⚡ Spidergawd
⚡ Heavy Lungs (UK)
⚡ Phantom Fire
⚡ Sklitakling
⚡ Last Hounds (UK)
⚡ The Clumps
⚡ Morax
⚡ Hästspark (SE)
⚡ Of All Things

For more info and tickets visit tundraandlightning.no.

See you in Bergen!

Event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/636105766049216/

https://www.facebook.com/tundraandlightning/
https://www.instagram.com/tundraandlightningfestival
https://tundraandlightning.no/

Slomosa, live at Regency Theater, Los Angeles, CA, Feb. 28, 2025

By the time it lands in February, A Keen Eye for the Obvious will be arriving upwards of 13 years after its most recent predecessor from Norwegian heavy rockers Thulsa Doom, which was 2005’s Keyboard, Oh Lord! Why Don’t We?. Needless to say, anyone with a keen eye for the obvious can tell you that’s plenty long enough. Near as I can tell, it’s a release through Duplex Records with distribution from Stickman, though it could be a direct release through Stickman as well — I’m not really sure. Either way, it’s coming out, and the band have a new video for opening track “Lady Nina” playing now that’s rife with boozy themes and Thin Lizzy bounce, and you’re not going to hear me complain about that in the slightest. These guys were always a good time, and one is glad to see that the intervening decade-plus hasn’t changed that core aspect of their sound.

This weekend they play Caliban Sessions alongside Black Debbath and a host of others. There’s more info at their Thee Facebooks page, which is linked below.

Dig it:

Thulsa Doom – A Keen Eye for the Obvious

European release distributed by Stickman Records!

We are proud to announce that «A Keen Eye for the Obvious” will be released in Europe, february 16th, 2018.

The release is in the best of hands, distributed through legendary German label Stickman Records who has been, and will always be, a true friend of quality music from Norway.

We look forward to a new chapter in the Thulsa Doom story through Rolf and Stickman, and are really happy to, from now on, be associated with many of our favourite bands from past and present, including Fireside, The Soundtrack of Our Lives, Radio Birdman, Motorpsycho and Elder, just to name a few.

We hope to see you on the road next year as well.

Tracklisting:
1 Lady Nina
2 Eloquent Profanity
3 Wrap the Bad up
4 Shadows on the X-rays
5 Consider Me
6 Bag of Fries
7 Quest for Fire
8 Magazine
9 In Italics and Bold
10 Baby, Hate IT

https://www.facebook.com/thulsadoomnorway/
http://www.duplexrecords.no/band/thulsa-doom/
https://www.facebook.com/Stickman-Records-1522369868033940/
http://www.stickman-records.de/

Thulsa Doom, “Lady Nina” official video