DJERV To Perform At Norway's BY:LARM Festival

DJERV — the Norwegian band featuring singer Agnete Kjølsrud of ANIMAL ALPHA, drummer Erlend Gjerde of STONEGARD and WARDRUNA and guitarist Stian Kårstad of TRELLDOM — will perform at next year's by:Larm festival, set to take place February 17-19, 2011 in Oslo, Norway. The group states, "It's a showcase festival that's also open to the public, and we'll be doing at least two shows during the three days the festival runs."

DJERV is putting the finishing touches on its debut album for a spring release through an as-yet-undisclosed label.

The band's first-ever recordings were issued as the "Headstone EP", available via Indie Distribution and the group's own label, Katapult Music. The three-track EP was originally intended as a demo but is now exclusively available for digital download.

"Headstone EP" was recorded at various studios in Oslo in the fall of 2009, and was mixed by Vangelis Labrakis and Stamos Koliousis, who later joined the band as a live guitarist, at 210 Studios in Berlin. It was produced by the band and was mastered by Espen Berg at Livingroom Studios in Oslo. The cover artwork was created by Christian Sloan Hall, who has previously worked with DIMMU BORGIR, TESTAMENT and SLAYER, among others.

DJERV's current touring lineup is rounded out by guitarist Stamos Koliousis (MENCEA) and bassist Victor Brandt (TOTALT JÄVLA MÖRKER, ENTOMBED, SATYRICON).

DJERV is a new act exploring the borderlines between rock, metal and black metal — with its members consciously pulling threads of their former bands into the new project. The overall sound is stripped down, groove-oriented and melodic, yet with cold black metal-influenced riffs accompanying the dark moods of the music.

DJERV/ex-ANIMAL ALPHA frontwoman Agnete Kjølsrud joined Norwegian symphonic black metallers DIMMU BORGIR on stage at their October 18, 2010 concert at Sentrum Scene in Oslo to perform the song "Gateways".

In a recent interview with Music-Photocalypse.net, DIMMU BORGIR frontman Shagrath (real name: Stian Tomt Thoresen) stated about the band's collaboration with Kjølsrud on DIMMU's latest album, "Abrahadabra", "I'm a very big fan of her previous band called ANIMAL ALPHA. Agnete is also a good friend of mine. We met out in the city. I've been talking to her a lot and I also like her new band DJERV. So I asked her if she wanted to become a part of one song on the album and she said yes, 'cause she is also a fan of DIMMU BORGIR. So she came to the studio, we nailed it in a couple of hours, it was done." (Agnete is also featured in the official "Gateways" video.)

For more information, visit the band's MySpace page.