Style: Nordic folk, art rock (clean vocals)
Recommended for fans of: Myrkur, Heilung
Country: Norway
Release date: 31 October 2025

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T’is almost the season (no one look too hard at the release date)! And you know who do Christmas right? The Nordic. The Icelanders have Jólabókaflóð (‘Christmas book flood’) where people exchange book gifts on Christmas Eve, a tradition dating back to the Second World War, when one of the few commodities not being rationed was paper. Finland, the adopted home of Santa Claus, brought us the twisted comic fantasy horror Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (2010) in which Santa Claus is a dormant, mythical monster disturbed from his slumber. But notably, for the purposes of today’s review, the Norwegians have Advent Calendar TV. Channels air 24-episode series that air every day of December in the run-up to Christmas. Often these are light-hearted children’s series or comedy for adults, but Nissene på låven may have perfected the niche: a 2001 reality show in which participants competed to be the best Christmas elves—which seems to have involved entailed their living in a barn loft and eating nothing but marzipan and nuts while facing weekly eliminations—in order to receive a 1 million kroner prize. Somehow the guy who won was the first person eliminated and, per what I hope is a poor translation from Norwegian Wikipedia: ‘carrie[d] condoms as his personal belongings.’

Norwegian progressive folk act Kalandra have embarked upon their own tradition of releasing ‘wintersongs’ (they could call it an Advent Kalandra), beginning last year with the standalone single “Ghosts”. Mørketid (literally ‘polar night’) cements that tradition with a full EP. Bookended by two rearranged covers of Scandi Yuletide classics, plus the aforementioned “Ghosts”, and another original, does Mørketid provide appropriate levels of hygge to see us through the polar night?

The two covers bookend the EP, opening with “Mitt Hjerte Alltid Vanker” (My Heart Always Lingers), which dates back to the 1700s when it was first composed by Danish hymnist Hans Adolpho Brorson. Much like “Silent Night” in the English-speaking world, it’s become a commonly covered standard for the Nordic holiday season. Meanwhile, closing cover, “Hymna Til Blåfjell” (Hymn to Blue Mountain) is a cover of a song written for a children’s TV advent calendar show that aired in 1999 in Norway which the band members grew up watching, and expands the TV theme into a fuller track, with Celtic diddling and ritualistic instrumentation redolent of acts like Wardruna. Both tracks are ably Kalandrified, with Katrine Stenbekk’s innocent lilting delivery as the centrepiece while pensive strings provide atmosphere. “Mitt Hjerte Alltid Vanker” really allows the band to show off their progressive chops, building to a post-rock crescendo, with a key change, choral backing (as per the original), and an ethereal horn solo. It’s one of Kalandra’s most compositionally unique tracks to date, the subdued piano outro with choral work paying fitting homage to the song’s Renaissance origins. 

While the covers comprise Mørketid’s more ambitious sojourns, the originals are bread-and-butter Kalandra. Both tracks are sung in English and call upon a poppier mentality, more in keeping with previous album A Frame of Mind. With that said, “Till the End” is a more atmospheric affair than previous, nigh percussionless, with Stenbekk’s heart-rending beseechment ‘somebody will hear my call, somebody must hear my call’ hanging as a folk lament on the brumal night. After that icicle to the heart, “Ghosts” provides some much needed relief with a more upbeat tenor, cemented by a rousing chorus to stoke flames back into our souls. ‘I sing for me while lighting candles / I sing because my ancestors are cold,’ Stenbekk sings, in a comforting image of winter tradition and social solidarity.

If you need a companion through the winter nights, you could do worse than to throw on Mørketid. Here Kalandra allow themselves to stretch out as a band, exploring a range of moods and compositional modes in order to build a quartet of tracks that feel like talismans against the icy grip of the gelid night. Best enjoyed as you unwrap your Christmas Eve book, sip cloudberry liqueur, and watch half-starved adults dressed as Santa Claus freeze in a loft for your entertainment. 

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Recommended tracks: Mitt Hjerte Alltid Vanker, Till the End
You may also like: Danefae, Dim Gray, Meer
Final verdict: 8/10

Related links: Bandcamp | Facebook | Instagram

Label: By Norse Music

Kalandra is:
– Katrine Stenbekk (vocals)
– Florian Döderlein Winter (guitar)
– Jogeir Daae Maeland (guitar)
– Oskar Johnsen Rydh (drums)