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)

Trondheim, Norway’s White Tundra ingratiated themselves with their 2023 self-titled debut (review here), fostering a sound that reached into heavy progressivism without being subsumed by the modernity of it all when it came to digging in on a densely-toned groove. Their second album, it just so happens, is being worked on now — right now, while we speak, no matter what time it is where you live — and will see release through Argonauta Records‘ imprint Octopus Rising, the roster of which continues to expand.

As to when that might happen, let’s presume they want to finish the LP before they put it out, so maybe 2026? I’ll pencil them into the notes for next year and keep an eye to see if maybe they want to be clever and sneak it out in December or somesuch. You never know with these things.

Words from the PR wire in blue:

Mystic Norwegian rockers WHITE TUNDRA join forces with Octopus Rising / Argonauta Records

We are proud to welcome WHITE TUNDRA to the Octopus Rising / Argonauta Records family. These visionary heavy voyagers channel the raw power of nature into their music, blending crushing riffs, groovy rhythms and a deep atmospheric sensibility.

Emerging from the northern marshes, WHITE TUNDRA creates sonic journeys that drift across icy tundras and into shadowy forests. Their sound is a thrilling mix of 70s heavy rock and 90s stoner vibes, enriched by elements of doom, black metal and Nordic folklore. With influences ranging from Red Fang to Witchcraft and Skraeckoedlan, they deliver a truly unique and heavy experience.

After making waves with their self-titled debut album in 2023, which earned a place on the Doom Charts and widespread praise throughout the underground scene, WHITE TUNDRA are now back in the studio. The band is currently working on their second full-length album at AutumnSongs Recording Studio, with producer Rhys Marsh behind the console.

The band states, “We’re stoked to be part of the Octopus Rising / Argonauta Records family. This partnership marks a new chapter for WHITE TUNDRA and we’re excited to share the powerful new material we’ve been creating.”

Formed in 2018, WHITE TUNDRA has already released a 7-inch single, an EP, and a debut album through the local label All Good Clean Records. With a solid and inspired lineup now in place, they are ready to reach new heights and captivate a wider audience.

Stay tuned for more news, sneak peeks and upcoming live shows.

Line-up
Steven Kresin – Guitar and vocals
Kjell Andres Nilsen – Lead guitar and vocals
Øyvind Persvik – Bass
Ola Fuglevaag – Drums

https://whitetundra.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/whitetundraband
https://www.facebook.com/WhiteTundraBand

www.argonautarecords.com
https://argonautarecords.bandcamp.com/
www.facebook.com/ArgonautaRecords
https://www.instagram.com/argonautarecords/

White Tundra, White Tundra (2023)

This week marks the release of White Tundra‘s self-titled debut full-length, as the three-piece hailing from New-Riff Norway (same Norway, new riffs) will issue the eight-tracker through All Good Clean Records. Running 40 minutes, White Tundra follows the 2021 single “Honningfella” (premiered here) and is a modern fuzz overdose, the trio of guitarist/vocalist Steven Kresin, lead guitarist Christoffer Kjørsvik (also album bass) and drummer Ola Fuglevaag crafting huge-sounding spaces with a mind for impact but not necessarily sticking to one methodology between that, as the careening, cowbell-inclusive shove of “Third Floor” demonstrates when set next to the midtempo “…Of the Eath” (premiering below) or the ambient intro “Fra Askeskog” that precedes eight-minute closer “Byting,” the persona of the band very much in line with an up-and-coming league of heavy acts, but the sound carrying a sense of severity one doesn’t always find in something so decisively not metal.

Shades of bands like Vokonis, Spaceslug, maybe a less frenetic Skraeckoedlan in some of their tones or a more frenetic Sungrazer with gravelly, echoing vocals if you want to look at it from the other side. The production is huge no matter how you approach White Tundra‘s White Tundra, and from the heavy post-rock sprawl of album-intro “Erwachen…” through the march and push of “…Of the Earth” they provide the depth in which one might immerse for the amp-frying duration and heft enough to keep the listener couch-locked, whether that the solo over the looped-sounding beat in the second half of “…Of the Earth” or the strident chug of “Find You,” which follows. By the time they get to “Addicted” and “Space Wars” in the middle of the album, they’ve effectively set the context in which the songs take place, and the lumber of “Space Wars” becomes the foundation for one of the record’s most entrancing explorations, a back and forth pattern through the tracklisting assuring that prior single “Third Floor” will keep momentum working in the band’s favor, which it does.

In “Third Floor,” “Space Wars,” “…Of the Earth” and certainly “Byting” and the ambient pieces, one can hear progressive aspects beginning to make themselves known in White Tundra‘s sound, and while one wouldn’t be surprised particularly to hear those come to further realization on subsequent releases, I’m not sure I’m willing to predict where the band will go and if they’ll bring the concrete-crunch tones that chug away in “Byting” with them. They could make five more records that sound just like this and be fine, but there’s growth from the single and the way their material functions throughout this initial collection lends the impression that they’re mindful of bringing variety to their songwriting — that they’re aware the songs they write can and do serve different purposes — which could be a big hint has to future direction and ambitions. Here, the production of Bismarck‘s Leif Herland brings out the physicality of White Tundra‘s crunch, representing their heft well for what will be a first impression for many who take them on. Wherever they may be headed stylistically, White Tundra is a debut worthy of the size of its own sound, and considering, that’s saying something.

Please enjoy “…Of the Earth” below, followed by a few words from the band, the preorder link, and so on:

White Tundra on “…Of the Earth”:

“…Of the Earth is the story of a new earth rising up in the aftermath of the old broken one. This is the second track on the album following the intro track Erwachen… (means “awakening” in German) which is a build-up to the rest of the album as well as …of the Earth. It was one of the first songs we wrote for the album and it kind of sets the tone for the rest of the album regarding to sound and songwriting with a bit more melodic riffs than we have produced before. This might be the most headbanging-friendly song on the album, and we are really happy with the groove on …of the Earth. The lyrics can be interpreted as either positive or pure doomsday prophecies depending on your mood.”

Pre-order link: https://whitetundra.bandcamp.com/album/white-tundra

White Tundra has been around since 2018 with core members Ola Fuglevaag (drums) and Steven Kresin (vocals / guitar) as the creative driving forces behind White Tundra’s music. Despite some line up changes they have stayed true to their sound and continued writing and recording new music. The EP “Graveyard Blues” was released digitally in 2020 and on MC in 2021 and the 7” vinyl single “Honningfella” came out the same year. 2022 was spent recording their self titled debut album with new guitarist Christoffer Kjørsvik who also plays in Norwegian black metal band Sworn.

Produced by the band along with Leif Herland at Polyfon Studios, mastered by Rhys Marsh at Autumnsongs Recording Studio and featuring the artwork of Thomas Moe Ellefsrud from HypnotistDesign, “White Tundra” is set for release digitally and on vinyl on October 27th via All Good Clean Records.

Line-up:
Steven Kresin: Vocals and guitar
Christoffer Kjørsvik: Lead guitar (and bass guitar on the album)
Ola Fuglevaag: Drums

White Tundra, White Tundra (2023)

White Tundra on Facebook

White Tundra on Instagram

White Tundra on Bandcamp

All Good Clean Records on Facebook

All Good Clean Records website

It’s been a minute, but Norwegian trio White Tundra did a premiere here in 2021 for their single “Honningfella” and I recall digging it a lot. If you haven’t yet gotten on board with New Heavy Norway — acts like Slomosa, Dune Sea, Kryptograf, Kanaan, Bismarck (whose Leif Herland produced here), Saint Karloff, not to mention Black Moon Circle, SÂVER or Kal-El, the grandmasters Motorpsycho (not that they’re exactly ‘new’) or anyone else in the full musical spectrum of creativity taking place in the country as we speak, White Tundra right in it — I can only recommend doing so by whatever avenue you might choose to take to get there. It’s a vibrant underground, with scene pockets in Trondheim, Oslo, etc., and for the last several years it’s been churning out quality first and second records like they were lutefisk, and by the end of this decade, yeah, some of these acts will restructure, disband, and so on, but those that remain will be all the more strident.

Those are generalizations, if things I genuinely believe. To be more specific to White Tundra, the trio are getting set to release a self-titled LP at the end of this month through All Good Clean Records. It is, in fact, their debut, and the shove and semi-burl of “Third Floor” is the second single from it. Why didn’t I post the first? Because as I’ve been telling you for years now, I’m terrible at this. After you take a listen to the White Tundra track and maybe check out the other 10 Norwegian bands I just suggested, you should maybe think about taking your business elsewhere. Ha.

From the PR wire:

White Tundra – Norwegian Stoner Rock Trio Announce Self-Titled New Album

Release New Song “Third Floor”

October 27th through All Good Clean Records, the collective recently unveiled another song off the album through their Bandcamp page.

Titled “Third Floor”, this new track is now playing at this location: https://whitetundra.bandcamp.com/track/third-floor

Produced by the band along with Leif Herland at Polyfon Studios, mastered by Rhys Marsh at Autumnsongs Recording Studio and featuring the artwork of Thomas Moe Ellefsrud from Hypnotist Design, “White Tundra” journeys through heavy atmospheric melodies, across the dusty tundra and through murky woods. Subtle pulses, inspired by black metal soundscapes White Tundra stays true to their earlier material’s orientation with accentuating pace and slow riffing. Pre-order the album and stream leading single Erwachen at this location.

White Tundra has been around since 2018 with core members Ola Fuglevaag (drums) and Steven Kresin (vocals / guitar) as the creative driving forces behind White Tundra’s music. Despite some line up changes they have stayed true to their sound and continued writing and recording new music. The EP “Graveyard Blues” was released digitally in 2020 and on MC in 2021 and the 7” vinyl single “Honningfella” came out the same year. 2022 was spent recording their self titled debut album with new guitarist Christoffer Kjørsvik who also plays in Norwegian black metal band Sworn.

Line-up:
Steven Kresin: Vocals and guitar
Christoffer Kjørsvik: Lead guitar (and bass guitar on the album)
Ola Fuglevaag: Drums

https://www.facebook.com/WhiteTundraBand
https://www.instagram.com/whitetundraband
https://open.spotify.com/artist/whitetundra

https://www.facebook.com/allgoodcleanrecords
http://www.allgoodcleanrecords.com
https://store.allgoodcleanrecords.com

White Tundra, White Tundra (2023)

White Tundra, “Third Floor”

Norwegian heavy rockers White Tundra release their new seven-inch single Honningfella on June 11 through All Good Clean Records. The Trondheim-based four-piece released their Graveyard Blues EP last March — the same week the world ended, more or less — and seem well within their rights to follow it up with a two-songer that stretches the limits of the 7″ format at a meaty 11 minutes in length. It’s an affair defined in no small part by its brashness, and as the title-track remains wildly catchy, propelled into imaginary entire-drunken-venue singalongs, fists in the air and the like by its non-lyric “whoa-whoa-whoooa” chorus following the plundering path of the coinciding riff, it’s still a bruiser, make no mistake. Some of those fists in the air are landing punches.

So it was on the EP as well, that four-song offering digging into vibes like earlier Clutch or Orange Goblin circa 2005. Heavy. Beery. Swaggering. White Tundra‘s rawness is accented by the vocals, but by no means limited to them. The guitar fuzz pushes out of both channels, and the cymbal crash behind cuts through with a punkish sense of straightforwardness. They’re a heavy rock band, but “Honningfella” delights in its rougher edge, and is all the more exciting for that, breaking in its midsection only to resume the circle-pit-but-nobody’s-a-dick-about-it shove to close out.

Thus ensues the more fuzz-forward “One More Place,” which tips over the six-minute line and makes a fitting B-side, following the immediacy of the prior cut with a groove that’s distinct but complementary. Stops in the verse let the lyrics pop out but they’re still willfully mumbled en route to the shoutier chorus and that’s just fine. The sort of inebriated primitivism on display remains good fun throughout, and they give it a little extra oomph at the end that feels bolstered by the mix and master from Truckfighters‘ own Niklas Källgren at the famed Studio Bombshelter, finishing with a solo on top of another duly electrified progression.

Thinking album? Yeah, they might be. And between what they show on Honningfella and Graveyard Blues they might have enough different looks to get there, but at this point, one of their assets is that they sound like a new band feeling out the stylistic ground they want to cover. White Tundra know their influences, sure enough, and they know what they’re going for, but the process of discovering how to manifest that is something precious, and it’s more important that they keep writing songs at this point than that they set themselves to some grander task. If a record happens or there’s some longer-form story they want to tell, bonus. But for a group so very clearly reveling in the pummel of these tracks, their best course would seem to be to keep going with what they’re doing and let the rest sort itself out naturally.

In any case, the single’s a blast. You’ll find it streaming on the player below, followed by a few words from the band.

Enjoy:

White Tundra on “Honingfella”:

‘Honningfella’ means ‘honey trap’ in Norwegian. The lyrics spins around the occult and undefined fear of the darkness and unseen but also obvious traps hidden behind beauty or gullibility. The theme in Honningfella is symbolised in the artwork of the single.

Active for the last four years, White Tundra have released one EP titled “Graveyard Blues” on All Good Clean Records last year and now are back with a new 7inch “Honningfella” to be released once again on All Good Clean Records.

Recorded in Trondheim, mixed and mastered by Niklas Källgren of Truckfighters and Enigma Experience at his studio Bombshelter, “Honningfella” is deeply rooted in the dirtier side of stoner rock, displaying a heavy riffage and uncompromising rhythms inspired by the likes of Monster Magnet, Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats and Skraeckoedlan.

White Tundra on Facebook

White Tundra on Instagram

White Tundra on Bandcamp

All Good Clean Records on Facebook

All Good Clean Records website