JORDSJØ - Pestkrønikene JORDSJØ

Dying Victims Productions is proud to present JORDSJØ’s highly anticipated new album, Pestkrønikene, on CD and vinyl LP formats.

JORDSJØ released their first tape in 2015. With their fourth tape, 2017’s Jord, the band gained a wider audience outside their native Norway and subsequently released full-lengths on labels such as Karisma, Pancromatic, and Apollon. The band works as a duo in the studio, but for the last eight years they have performed live as a quintet.

JORDSJØ are led by multi-instrumentalist Håkon Oftung, who has been part of Oslo’s psychedelic, progressive, and heavy rock underground for many years, and has played in Black Magic, Tusmørke, The Chronicles of Father Robin, Wobbler, Zenon, and labelmates FLIGHT, to mention but a few. He’s joined by longtime companion and childhood friend Kristian Frøland, who plays drums and percussion, and also produced and mixed Pestkrønikene.

Pestkrønikene forms part of JORDSJØ’s 10-year anniversary and is their ninth release overall. The record started as a compilation of studio outtakes from 2020–2025, but soon took on a form of its own, with the songs linked together thematically. Lyrically, those themes reflect war, upheaval, the fall of kings and the rise of a new dawn, as well as cults and sects.

Sonically, Pestkrønikene encapsulates the JORDSJØ experience while also extending beyond it. Mythical and magical, the album honours the band’s background in hard rock and heavy metal, combining it with their own analogue and organic blend of progressive and psychedelic folk rock. To say the band blends '70s heavy rock such as Deep Purple, Rush, and Ashbury with the progressive landscapes of Gentle Giant, Høst, and Landberk somewhat undersells JORDSJØ’s unique musical vision. The soothingly otherworldly atmosphere sounds incredibly era-authentic but, more importantly, exists in a parallel universe worth revisiting time and again, with new details and vistas revealing themselves on every listen.

To make the anniversary even sweeter, JORDSJØ are joined by several special guests: Jon Henriksen from Black Magic, Kristian Valbo from Obliteration / Aura Noir, and Andreas Prestmo and Lars Fredrik Frøislie from Wobbler.

Sonic alchemy, Pestkrønikene is.

Succinct yet deceptively expansive at just 36 minutes, the album is a generous feast of fantastical, extra-dimensional exploration.

While not "heavy" in the usual Dying Victims sense, JORDSJØ honour the old ways - handmade, honest, and even heroic.