For 12 years, Jordsjø have been blending 1970s progressive-rock sensibilities with Scandinavian folklore, jazz, psychedelia, and pastoral elements, fitting their own category down to a T. For Håkon Oftung and Kristian Frøland, those ingredients have remained a constant presence throughout the band’s catalog, creeping up and down your spine with every listen.
Now, they have come crawling back once more with Pestkrønikene, following 2025’s collaboration with Breidablik on Kontraster and 2023’s Salighet. This time, Jordsjø return with a heavier and more forceful sound, joined by an impressive cast of guests, including Wobbler’s Lars Fredrik Frøislie and Andreas Prestmo, Alwanzatar’s Kristian Valbo, and Black Magic’s Jon A. Henriksen.
Released through Dying Victims Productions, Pestkrønikene moves through Italian-inspired progressive textures, psychedelic passages, folk melodies, and the organic warmth that has become synonymous with Jordsjø. The result is a record that keeps you on the edge of your seat, revealing new details with every spin.
It is the kind of album that makes you want to dig through those milk crates of records you have held onto for years, searching for the sounds that shaped your childhood and musical imagination.
The medieval-folk fantasies behind the gentle acoustic-flute improvisations of ‘Kaosvelde – Vasallens Elegi’ immediately establish a Tolkien-esque atmosphere before descending into the maddening nightmare of its darker passages. The magnificent Jethro Tull-like textures speak volumes as the music ascends toward the gods, propelled by a pagan-like tempo, fast-paced motifs, and unexpected time changes.
That momentum eventually leads into ‘Kaosveldets Endelikt,’ where Italian prog-inspired organ lines and blistering guitar textures race up and down the musical stairs. The Focus-like riff attack fires on all cylinders, providing an electrifying segue that gets the blood pumping.
Henriksen’s contribution to ‘White Magic’ helps prepare the listener for a joyful Celtic-organ prog waltz filled with sing-along vibrancy. With its blaring organ, acoustic-to-electric guitar transition, and Gentle Giant-inspired sensibilities, the track captures the feeling of the Vertigo label during its golden, swirling-logo era of the 1970s. It feels vintage without sounding like a mere exercise in nostalgia.
But what’s this? Is Jordsjø stepping into Frank Zappa’s territory on ‘Seven Heads’? It certainly feels that way. You can hear echoes of the Over-Nite Sensation era in the arrangements, particularly in the way the duo embraces the intricate interplay and rhythmic punch associated with ‘I’m the Slime.’
From there, the music builds as the organ pushes forward and the rhythm section settles into a galloping structure, creating an intense climax. The ominous flute improvisations add another layer of unease, almost like the soundtrack to Disney’s The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, crawling down your spine and refusing to let go.
The improvisations throughout ‘Spiritual Lament’ make it one of the album’s most captivating instrumental moments. Its stop-and-go motifs bring to mind the adventurous side of the arena-rock and progressive scenes of the mid-to-late 1970s.
And we’re not talking about Styx here. Instead, there are traces of Gentle Giant, Aviary, White Willow, and Starcastle woven into the arrangement, alongside incredible riffs, folk passages, and Boston-like guitar structures. All of it receives an electrical jolt that carries the track into a deeper, more cavernous atmosphere reminiscent of early Pink Floyd.
Remarkably, Jordsjø’s latest album is more than another excellent progressive-rock release for 2026; it feels like a culmination of everything the duo has built over the past 12 years. Pestkrønikene is a beautiful, strange, and sometimes ferocious journey through folk mysticism, psychedelic textures, and 1970s-inspired progressive rock.
