If you one of the lucky few to discover this Norwegian prog duo Jordsjø and were blown away by their music by Bandcamp but all the cassettes were sold and you could only download them, if you felt this type of retro prog is begging to be on vinyl, it's really nice to know that the material on their first three cassettes have been compiled on this truly wonderful double LP. For the rest of us progheads who never heard of them, trust me, they are without a doubt one of the finest prog rock bands to come in a long time. Jordsjø is headed by multi-instrumentalist Håkon Oftung, and he gets either Kristian Frøland or Tore Flatjord on drums, depending on track (apparently Tore Flatjord plays the material off their 2105 debut cassette, and Kristian Frøland much of the rest). On "Solina, Min Dronning" Oftung gets none other than Martin Nordrum Kneppen of Wobbler to appear on drums! Håkon has also played in Tusmørke on their childrens album Bydyra, and Black Magic as well. Musically, Jordsjø's music is symphonic prog of the first order, in the vein of Änglagård, White Willow, Wobbler, Tusmørke, Sinkadus and the likes. Occasional cut will remind you of a bit of Jethro Tull, Terje Rypdal, Bo Hansson, or even Uriah Heep. The vocals are all in Norwegian with the exception of a couple in English, and I love the way each side of the LP is divided: Side one is "The Heavy Side", side two is "The Arctic Side", side three is "The Fantasy Side", and side four is "The Other Side". Side one is apparently what's considered the heavier side of Jordsjø. "Betula Obscure" is basically a short flute-driven intro that leads into "Mine Templer I". A folk influence has itself felt, a bit in the Jethro Tull vein, but make no doubt the symphonic prog element is upfront. "UK Original" starts off with a Mellotron-dominated passage before starting to rock out in a bit of Deep Purple or Uriah Heep fashion, complete with heavily fuzzed Hammond organ. There are some Rick Wakeman-like synth solos as well. The Arctic Side apparently depicts images of the far arctic north of Norway. "Hulderheimen" has a really nice medieval influenced Moog intro that goes into Wobbler territory with some really nice flute and Mellotron passages. "Fugløyenkallen" is a really sinister instrumental piece with some really doomy Mellotron choir and spacy synths that just left my mind blown. "Svarthelleren" is a bit more rocking but has some really nice symphonic passages. Although to my English-speaking ears I keep hearing "Salthammer" or "Smarthammer" being repeated, but it's only because the way "Svarthelleren" sounds to my American ears. Regardless, Svarthelleren is a point in Loppen in Finnmark in the far north of Norway, so no wonder it fits the Arctic theme of this side. "Under Aurora B" is very much in the Terje Rypdal vein, bearing more than a passing resemblance to his 1974 album Whenever I Seem to Be Far Away. I also blows me away that Håkon Oftung gets Rypdal's style of guitar playing down! It ends in a more eerie electronic fashion, sounding more like something Breidablik would do (Breidablik is a one-man electronic project that released a split cassette with Jordsjø called Songs from the Northern Wasteland, and Breidblik had released stuff independently of Jordsjø, well worth hearing for fans of progressive electronic music). "Ogion" starts the Fantasy Side, and it starts off rather acoustic, but then it goes into Änglagård and ELP mode with some amazing keyboards in the vein of Emerson and Thomas Johnson (of Änglagård). "Se Valinors Lamper" stats off rather calm with spacy Solina String Ensemble synthesizer and vocals in Norwegian. It picks up, but as soon as it picks up steam, it suddenly goes into electronic mode briefly into a dirge with flute and somber sounding Mellotron bassoon, before returning to how it started. The last side is The Other Side, apparently didn't really fit into any specific theme. "Solina, Min Dronning" is one of my favorites. Unsurprisingly the Solina String Ensemble is one of the dominate keyboards here. Here they're going for a more German school of late '70s prog that brings to mind bands like Eloy and Novalis, this piece bearing more than a passing resemblance to Novalis' Sommerabend, although the vocals are in Norwegian. Play this to some unsuspecting proghead who enjoys Eloy's Dawn, Ocean and Silent Cries and Mighty Echoes or Novalis' Sommerabend, and they'll swear this was dated 1976, but then notice it's not sung in German (or English). Instead done by musicians who weren't even alive in 1976, which really blows me away! For those who dismiss Millenials as contributing nothing worthwhile to music will have a completely different attitude towards Jordsjø! You'd swear Håkon Oftung took a time machine from the 1970s and ended up in the 2010s! Anways, next song, "Hekseskogen" is an instrumental flute and organ-driven piece that sounds exactly like Bo Hansson! There's no denying Håkon Oftung is paying tribute to Bo Hansson on that cut. "The Goddess (of Light)" is probably the heaviest thing here aside from "UK Original", with heavy guitar and nice flute, but it's still not in metal territory. Jordsjø has left my mind completely blown. This is retro prog of the first order, with amazing analog keyboards (although the Mellotron is actually an M4000D, from the gear I've seen Oftung used from photos online), wonderful creative passages and atmosphere. The Nordic vibe has itself felt throughout. I can imagine in the future Oftung teaming up with Lars Fredrik Frøislie for some duo keyboard action (would make perfect sense given both are Tusmørke members), and getting Mattias Olsson for drums, which would make a wonderful combination. Whatever the case, if things go right, the music will became more widely available through various prog dealers, and record stores not afraid to stock this stuff, they'll be a big hit with progheads everywhere. The only drawback is the Norwegian vocals may be a bit tough for many non-Norwegian listeners (I'm American), but it doesn't bother me any, and in fact the vocals aren't bad and fits the music fine to my ears. Still some of the best prog I've heard in ages really worth your time. This double album set hardly left my turntable for several days straight because my mind was so blown by this! If you feel Marillion, Spock's Beard and the Flower Kings are not what the best prog has to offer, Jordsjø is just what you need!