The trio YODOK III – Norwegian drummer Tomas Järmyr and (amplified) tuba and flugabone player Kristoffer Lo, and Belgian guitarist Dirk Serries – was invited to play a concert at Trondheim’s Olavsfestival at Nidarosdomen (Nidaros Cathedral): Scandinavia’s great cathedral, the northernmost Gothic monument of the Middle Ages, built upon the resting place of Saint Olav, the King of Norway (from 1015 to 1028), whose sainthood encouraged the widespread adoption of Christianity in Norway.

Within the stone walls of this historic monument breathes the colossal Steinmeyer organ, 9,600 pipes of air and thunder, a perfect addition for YODOK III’s free-improvised, ritualistic and cathartic, massive post-rock meets ambient drones. The trio invited the cathedral’s organist, Petra Bjørkhaug, to join the performance, which took place in August 2023.

The 54-minute Nidarosdomen documents the most memorable live concert, more reserved,  introspective, and at times even lyrical than the previous albums of YODOK III. The audience was seated sideways beneath vaulted arches, for no one may turn their back on the cross, and witnessed a music that slowly transfigured. YODOK III became a sonic entity larger than its part, letting its unique, organically developed aesthetic grow bigger and converse not only with the cathedral’s organ, but with the living breath of Nidarosdomen itself, its reverberating walls, and its past ghosts. It is a powerful, highly immersive sonic experience that sounds as if it is molding and sculpting the cathedral’s stone walls with its spiritual sonic waves, suggesting a modern-day cleansing ritual against corrupt and reptilian evil spirits that rule our planet.

Eyal Hareuveni

Tomas Järmyr (drums), Kristoffer Lo (amplified tuba, fliugabone), Dirk Serries (electric guitar), Petra Bjørkhaug (church organ)