Twenty-five years after their first recording, Panzerpappa – perhaps Norway's most cordial avant-prog ensemble – felt the time had finally come to release their first-ever concept album.

On August 22, 2025, the band will launch Landsbysladder, their eighth studio
release. Landsbysladder is Norwegian for "village gossip" and the album comprises seven instrumental pieces centered on the themes of rumors, tales, and gossip in a small village – a musical chronicle of minor and major dramas unfolding in a tight-knit community where everyone knows everyone – or at least thinks they do.

Landsbysladder tells a vivid story without uttering a single word. The music shifts between open, melodic passages and sudden bursts of intensity, drive, and complexity. Tempo changes, rhythmic twists, and harmonic detours mirror the unpredictable way gossip can spread, grow, and shift the mood in an instant.

Pestrottedans (2016) was described as a blend of Canterbury prog, symphonic rock, and chamber music, while Summarisk Suite (2019) ventured into more open and spacious territory, combining retro-prog elements with intricate arrangements that balanced the symphonic and the intimate, the demanding and the accessible, the meticulously composed and the spontaneous. Landsbysladder ties together elements from both albums, placing even greater emphasis on atmosphere, thematic variation, and a strong musical narrative thread.

"We approached this album with a more holistic thematic focus," the band explains. "Motifs and ideas recur, transform, and spread – just like rumors." This particular musical rumor traces all the way back to the band's debut album ...passer gullfisk (2000), which featured a track titled "Landsbysladder". Sixteen years later, "Landsbysladder 3" appeared on Pestrottedans. Clearly, the gossip wasn't over yet.

Recurring motifs run throughout the new album. In "Landsbyminiatyr", you'll even hear a reimagined version of the original Landsbysladder theme from 2000. In this way, past and present are woven together in a musical tapestry that both looks back and points ahead.

The album features several distinguished guest musicians: renowned folk artist Rannveig Djønne on diatonic accordion, seasoned performer Silje Hveem Lofthus on flute, internationally acclaimed soloist and professor Håkon Stene on tuned percussion, Håkon Børve on the rarely heard contra-alto clarinet, and last but not least, jazz luminary Ståle Storløkken – known from Elephant9, Terje Rypdal, Motorpsycho, and Supersilent – on synthesizer.

Landsbysladder was recorded and produced by the band between 2023 and 2025 and will be released on August 22, 2025, on vinyl, CD, and digital platforms worldwide.

Panzerpappa is:Steinar Børve – saxophones, EWI
 Trond Gjellum – drums and percussion
 Anders K. Krabberød – bass guitar
 Jarle G. Storløkken – guitar
 Torgeir Wergeland Sørbye – keyboards

Written and arranged by Panzerpappa
 Mixed by Trond Gjellum
 Mastered by Kjetil Bergseth

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