2025

Before Bjørn Torske became known as a pioneer of Norwegian leftfield disco, he was part of the mysterious project Ismistik. This project, which he started together with Ole Mjøs in the early 1990s, was an early starting point for his impressive career in electronic music. Ismistik emerged at a time when the Norwegian electronic music scene was still in its infancy.

Ismistik was formed during a period characterized by heavy experimentation in electronic music, strongly influenced by the sounds of Chicago House and Detroit Techno. In a small room that also functioned as a student radio station at Brygga in Tromsø, Bjørn Torske and Ole Mjøs began experimenting, and they quickly developed their own unique sound. Torske himself has described how the freedom they had at Brygga—where they could play whatever they wanted—inspired them to explore the use of drum machines and synthesizers.

Between 1991 and 1995, Ismistik released three EPs and one album on the well-known Dutch record label Djax-Up-Beats. These releases established Ismistik as a central figure in the emerging electronic scene of the 1990s. Early releases such as Bonus Bouncers, Oasis, and 3rd Trace clearly show influences from both Chicago and Detroit, but also a talent for softening and refining the harder elements of that music.

In 1995 came the Ismistik LP Remain, a solo work by Torske. The album balances elements of house, techno, and ambient, and reflects the early influences that shaped his musical identity. For a long time this release seemed to be the final Ismistik release. Something that was true until this fall, when Finnish label Elektorni will put out a new EP from Ismistik – the first in 30 years.