Kiasmos

Formed in Iceland in 2009, Kiasmos brings together Icelandic composer and producer Ólafur Arnalds and Faroese musician Janus Rasmussen, who is also active in Bloodgroup and Byrta. The duo developed out of their collaboration on the Bloodgroup project, with Arnalds working as a sound engineer, before taking a shared direction between electronica, ambient, IDM and minimal techno. Kiasmos’s music is built on restrained, progressive rhythms, airy textures and melodic motifs often tied to piano or a more contemplative compositional approach, in a format designed for both listening and electronic live performance. After a first split 12" titled 65/Milo in 2009 with Rival Consoles on Erased Tapes, Kiasmos released the EP Thrown in 2012 and the album Kiasmos in 2014. The EPs Looped and Swept followed in 2015, and Blurred in 2017, extending this work at the intersection of club pulse and atmospheric composition. In 2024, Kiasmos returned with II, a second album that confirms the project’s continuity and its grounding in a pared-down electronic aesthetic.