“They draw near, the green hall fills with song, the blue bell tolls, pulses.” That’s how “Turs” opens, a track where forests fall and mountains bleed as beings rise from their slumber. The single is the second of three leading up to Skogskult’s debut album, due 5 December 2025 on Bonebag Records, and it lands with Swedish lyrics, heavy fuzz, and a strong sense of place.
Formed in Umeå in 2022, Skogskult brings together Samuel Nordström (guitar), Albin Kroon (bass), Simon Rosengrim (vocals), and Alexander Söderlund (drums). They cut their teeth in underground outfits like Från Mars, Scitalis, Never Recover, and Shroom Cloud, but Skogskult settles firmly in the lineage of stoner doom.
Their sound nods toward Sleep, Yob, Acid King, and Electric Wizard, as well as newer acts like Monolord, Windhand, and Green Lung, but the band insists that the process is about writing songs they think sound great rather than aiming to resemble anyone. “Our sound is based on us as individuals,” they explain. “We are inspired by and love other people’s music, but we are not trying at all to sound like anyone else. The balance between our sound and the ones we are inspired by is not really on our radar.”
The songwriting begins with instrumentals and the images that surface while playing them. The lyrics, they say, come later. “It starts with the instrumentals and the pictures/scenes we imagine when listening to and playing them. The lyrics come later to strengthen that image and, at least for this album, are all based on original poems that we rephrased to slot musically into our instrumentals.” Those poems were the product of back-and-forth collaboration, with the intent of letting the words and music enhance one another.
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Swedish is central to the effect. While many doom bands turn to English, Skogskult deliberately rooted the record in their own tongue. “Swedish is our language, and trying to express the things we want to express through a different framework is very hard,” they say. “The language itself has a way of expressing things that other languages lack, and if we were to use another language some of the deeper meaning of the words and phrases would risk being lost.”
The album deals with Nordic folklore, occult gatherings, and ritualistic imagery. “We share a common interest in nature, and spending time in the forests here gets your mind going,” the band reflects. “Some of our denser forests already look straight out of a fairytale, so the folklore and occult imagery just pop into your head when being outside. Sweden also has lots of interesting folklore and local myths, so running out of inspiration is not possible. We are also kind of nerdy, so the fantastical and magical aspects of these themes really appeal to us.”
That sense of myth and nature isn’t forced on top of the music but emerges as part of the writing process. “The riffs always come before we slot in our overarching themes. It’s all about fitting the story and theme to the music, not the other way around,” they explain. “We usually write an instrumental song, and when we feel like the form is somewhat set, we apply the images we visualized while jamming and writing the music. These images and stories are almost always folklore-themed because that is where our minds lead us when we create music together.”
Working with producer Max Malmer of Cavern Deep shaped the sessions. “Max is just an overall great guy. He really wants to see the scene flourish and genuinely loves the music. As a producer, he has helped the project immensely by giving new perspectives and guiding us through the process. Also, his technical production skills are top notch, so it has been a privilege to work with him, and we will continue to do so in future endeavors.”
Skogskult emphasizes that the record is not about delivering a single interpretation but opening space for listeners. “First and foremost, we want listeners to feel something,” they explain. “If they find joy, that is great, but provoking any type of emotion, positive or negative is the goal. The lyrical themes are not very literal and are open to interpretation, so it’s up to the listener to mould their own understanding. We are big proponents of a subjective listening experience and leaving things deliberately abstract to support that vision.”
Still, for the band, there’s a sense of grounding in the material. “When we listen to the album, we feel a strong sense of home and connection to the land and forests we grew up in. Hopefully some of these feelings shine through to the audience and they can feel the same way we do, because we are proud of this album and enjoy the feelings it gives us when listening.”
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The visual side is not secondary. “The videos are a big part of Skogskult,” they explain. “They add a new layer of possible meanings a listener can draw from the music and can somewhat let us guide the listener down the path and the emotions we feel toward the music. It is also a very fun outlet for ideas that might be hard to apply to the music and that work better in a visual medium.” The clip for “Turs,” filmed, produced, and edited by drummer Alexander Söderlund, folds the band’s myth-heavy aesthetic into that visual extension.
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“Turs” follows “Pakten” as the second single and gives a sharper look at what their December debut holds: doom steeped in folklore, heavy riffs shaped by landscapes, and lyrics that lean into the abstract without losing their roots.
