It’s Kingsday over here in the Netherlands, and we’ve just returned from a two day break at the beach with our little six year old niece. Which meant, no updates and no time to keep track of everything. And last week, well, we had our Thursday and Friday spent doing all that Friday Freebie madness for the Doom Charts! As well as heading over to Tilburg for an amazing live show by Naxatras! If they ever turn up in your neighborhood, don’t miss out! But we did do a little last week and most importantly, that FULL ALBUM PREMIERE for White Tundra! Have you listened yet? Or that Black Toaster record! Which came out in February, highly addictive stuff! All of it… So check it out… All of ‘m!
The time has come! As we mentioned on Monday, today is the day we get to PREMIERE for you all the FULL ALBUM by Norwegian fourpiece White Tundra! It's called Stories From The Dark and it's brooding, menacing and full of dread... For Stories From The Dark creeps in like those eyes that watch you through those frozen woords, that glint you think you see just beyond the firelight. And as the storm approaches, you can feel the storm growing with each crushing riff and shifting shadow. Their sound stalks and lunges, one more a heavy deliberate prowl, and the next a like a cosmic void pulling you under. And then those voices, snarling, chanting, grunting in Nordic tongue or English. And beneath all that massive weight, melodies flicker like dying embers... This is no ordinary album, hell no... It's a saunter through the dark, where every step feels thrilling and just dangerous enough you dare to keep going...
Right?
If you dare, go and push play on White Tundra's Stories From The Dark!
Norwegian heavy voyagers White Tundra are back with their second full length album, “Stories from the Dark”, set for release on April 24th 2026 via Octopus Rising and Argonauta Records in deluxe vinyl and digital formats. The band also unveils their new single and official videoclip, “Kultarberget”, offering a first glimpse into the dark, atmospheric world of the album.
Formed in 2023, White Tundra emerged from the northern landscapes of Norway with a sound that fuses heavy atmospheric melodies, hypnotic grooves and a deep Scandinavian mystique. Their music drifts between desert rock energy, doom laden textures and Nordic folklore inspired narratives, balancing the raw power of 70s hard rock with modern stoner and dark rock influences. Often compared to Red Fang, Witchcraft and Skraeckoedlan, the band maintains a unique identity that is unmistakably their own.
Following their acclaimed self titled debut album in 2023, which secured a place on the Doom Charts, White Tundra spent 2024 rebuilding their creative core. With the arrival of lead guitarist Kjell Andres Nilsen and bassist Øyvind Persvik, the band began crafting what would become “Stories from the Dark”. Recording took place at AutumnSongs Recording Studio with producer Rhys Marsh, who also worked on the debut album, and mastering was completed by Joona Hassinen at Studio Underjord.
White Tundra share:
“We started working on this album early 2024 when Kjell Andres joined on lead guitars. He had been piling up ideas for a while and came into the band with fresh blood and energy. After a while, Øyvind joined on bass and we really started to focus on writing in the summer of 2024. Many songs were in the loop for this album, but we settled on these final six tracks as the ones who fit best together. The winter and spring were used for demoing and pre productions, and Ola recorded the drums in mid July. Bass, guitar and vocals were recorded during two consecutive weeks in August.
The music has partly been written after the lyrics, often starting with creating the chorus and main mood of the songs and building from there. Other songs were partly finished musically before the lyrics fell into place. Ola wrote all the lyrics, with help from singer Steven to adapt them to the music. Thematically it takes off where the previous album ended, with lyrics about escaping from society, exploring the unknown and incorporating local folklore. The closing track, White Tundra, attempts to capture the entire soul and journey of the band, from desert rock inspiration to the white, stormy tundra.”
Tracklist Healer 04:43 Huset 05:38 Riderless Horse 06:51 Kultarberget 04:56 The Lake 05:27 White Tundra 08:44
With “Stories from the Dark”, White Tundra deliver a cohesive, immersive experience that cements their place as one of the most compelling voices in the modern heavy underground. Fans can explore hypnotic riffs, soaring melodies and atmospheric heaviness that spans Nordic darkness, desert rock grit and folklore-inspired storytelling.
White Tundra – Stories From The Dark Octopus Rising / Argonauta Records – 2026 Metal, Stoner, Sludge, Doom, Prog Rated: ****
It’s sludgy, it’s got razor sharp teeth, its menacing, it has style up the wazoo and we are honored to have the new White Tundra album Stories From The Dark as a Full Album Premiere for you all this Wednesday! That’s right, the Norwegian four are back! We mentioned their Honningfella release back in 2021 but should have mentioned their 2023 self-titled album as well. Both have that special edge to it, making you bit scared as well as very excited to be listening to it! Well, be sure to come back on Wednesday, if you dare, cause you will be hearing the full Stories From The Dark album here first!
Stories From The Dark kicks open a frozen door with the single Healer and drags you into the storm that blasts across the tundra. Which is followed by Huset, riffs heralded by the drums, immediately become as thick as molasses, fuzz-soaked and all of it rumbles like thunder closing in fast. And then it opens up, everything stretches outwards, and turns into a swirling expanse, where time feels optional and the sweat will be running down your back. One moment you’re locked into a swaggering, groove-heavy stomp, the next, you’re drifting through cosmic haze, guitars spiraling and bending as if pulled by some unseen gravity and a momentum that will surely send you whirling back towards that groove.
It’s what they do best, White Tundra craft a dense, riff-driven sound that fuses the weight of doom and stoner metal with the color and sprawl of psychedelic and progressive rock. Their music leans heavily on fuzz-drenched and sludge guitar tones. But there are always those groove-centric rhythms, and a raw, unpolished edge that keeps everything feeling immediate, visceral and slightly menacing.
Like a wolf grinning from the dark, there’s a wildness to it all. Vocals snarl, chant, grunt and beg to be howled along with. Beneath the noise, though, rising from the dark, there’s craft: hooks buried in distortion, melodies glowing through the murk, and a deep-rooted love for heavy rock tradition and a progressive edge that gives the right amount of atmospheric story telling. Just listen to the opening section of third track Riderless Horse for instance. Elements of classic heavy rock and Nordic atmosphere seep through, giving their sound a windswept, ghostly quality. Fitting for that track, but bleeding through on more moment throughout this magical album.
Vocals in both Norwegian and English, vocalized by a duo of voices, implore you to shout along or sound like a shadowy ritual. The gravel voiced prophets know exactly how to hit the right moments as they shell out their sermons across all the thunderous tones and grooves. It’s all walking a tightrope between hypnotic communion and creeping deception, dark Nordic woods are conjured and all those magical whispers will linger, like ominous echoes that both entice and unsettle. Do you dare to wander through all these Stories From The Dark?
(Written by JK)
It’s out, April 24th on Octopus Rising / Argonauta Records, but you can hear the Stories From The Dark album this Wednesday, the 22nd, right here on Stoner HiVe!
Or check out White Tundra’s chosen opening track Healer right now!
And another week gone. Had to travel myself so had limited time to HiVe, but soon thing will pick up again! You bet your ass! But still, we listened to some awesome stuff and we can’t wait to start work again on the all-new October edition of the Doom Charts! Only a few days away! What was your favorite October release?
White Tundra – Honningfella All Good Clean Records – 2021 Rock, Stoner, Metal, Sludge Rated: ****
We opened the press kit before we could download the two track of this 7inch single, thinking the EPK would deliver all the tracks, info and pr-pictures. We therefor could not help but read the following sentence: “For fans of Monster Magnet, Red Fang and Skraeckoedlan.” Sold! So, we immediately then found our way into the two tracks by Norwegian quartet White Tundra. They’re called Honningfella and One More Place and both deliver some tight stoner metal, rock and sludgy textures. Clearly inspired by classic riffs, they manage to make it all sound raw and rough, yet also retain something very catchy. With the multiple vocals it has a very rowdy and loud feeling to it. A bit manic even, but that’s exactly the way we like it! White Tundra, music to party to every night!
