Whitefrozen

Songs were recorded in 1995 through 1997, including a 24-minute track that has never been released, but due to the band members' other commitments, Vardøger did not manage to release any music at that time and the group disbanded.[1][2] However, "Footprints of Thunder" was subsequently released on the compilation album In the Shadow of Death: A Scandinavian Extreme Music Compilation in 2000.[3] The band reformed in order to release more music, resulting in an EP in 2003 through Endtime Productions.[1][4]

On this release, the style performed by Vardøger was described as black metal mixed with folk music,[3][4] black and folk metal,[4] and Viking metal.[5] The song "Footprints of Thunder" was described as symphonic black metal.[3] Johannes Jonsson described the songs on the EP as "slow black metal" and "slow majestic Viking Metal."[5] Stefan Lang compared the sound of the titular song "Whitefrozen" to the output of Amorphis.[6] Overall, he found the sound of the band to be similar to Schaliach, due to the presence of Dalbakk in both bands, except that Vardøger demonstrated a more black metal sound and was absent the contribution of Schaliach's other member, Ole Børud.[6] Matt Morrow described Whitefrozen as the place where "driving aggression frolics in the fields with haunting melodies. Where bells, chanting, ivory, and the marching of drums are welcome friends."[3]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Johannes Jonsson
Matt Morrow

The EP was well-received, with Ultimate Guitar describing it as a "classic."[7] Stefan Lang of Powermetal.de was favorable to the album, stating that there was no question that the band had the potential to crawl above the average.[6] HM writer Matt Morrow gave the album a full ten-out-of-ten, expressing his delight that the band had released more material after their compilation appearance.[3] Writer Johannes Jonsson rated the album three-out-of-five, calling the EP "a really nice cd for everyone into slow black metal."[5] He praised the vocals of Peter Dalbakk, which he considered better in this project than in Dalbakk's other band, Schaliach.[5] Jonsson said that he could not get into the tracks "Desert Pale" and "Inferno", but that the other three songs on the EP were excellent.[5] In a brief and retrospective review, Jakob Plantinga of Rocklife.nl said that while Whitefrozen was not a bad record, it was not particularly innovative.[8]

• Alexander Dalbakk - Guitars
• Knut Anders Sørum - Keyboards
• Magnus Westgaard- Bass
• Stian Aarebrot - Guitars, vocals
• Robert Bordevik - Guitars, vocals
• Peter Dalbakk - Vocals
• Tom Arne Fossheim - Drums