ANIMAL ALPHA, STONEGARD, WARDRUNA And TRELLDOM Members Join Forces In DJERV

Singer and flamboyant front person Agnete Kjølsrud of ANIMAL ALPHA, drummer Erlend Gjerde of STONEGARD/WARDRUNA and guitarist Stian Kårstad of TRELLDOM have teamed up in a new project called DJERV which explores the borderlines between rock, metal and black metal.

DJERV was formed as a result of both ANIMAL ALPHA and STONEGARD splitting up during the past year. STONEGARD was laid to rest due to internal conflicts just as their new album was out and weeks prior to a two-month European tour with ENSLAVED. ANIMAL ALPHA called it quits after extensive touring took them all across the world – finally getting the better of them.

Almost a year in the making, DJERV is "consciously pulling threads" of the bandmembers' former groups into the new outfit's sound, according to a press release.

"I guess we all felt our original bands had qualities we should bring along into this constellation," Erlend states. "By all means, DJERV is a new band with a new sound, but you can easily tell who's singing to put it that way. Agnete's incredible voice and personality was the main characteristic of ANIMAL ALPHA, but we have consciously worked towards a more sinister expression. The overall sound is stripped down, groove-oriented and melodic, yet Stian's cold black metal-influenced riffing underpins the dark moods of the music."

The band is currently writing material for its debut album, which it hopes to record during the spring and summer of 2010.

"We hope to release a single and a video before the festival season kicks off and hopefully we get to play some festivals this summer as I really cannot wait to get on stage again," Agnete says. "I miss that thing happening when I meet the audience. It's magic, I love them!"

Two tracks from DJERV are now available for streaming on the band's MySpace page.