Norwegian drummer, Nilssen-Love, and veteran Swedish pianist, Sandell, have worked together in a trio with bassist Johan Berthling since 1999, but this set – captured live at the Kongsberg Jazz Festival in 2013 – is their first duet. You'd never guess. The level of interplay is simply astonishing, with the pair launching into spontaneous rhythmic gambits and locking down turn-on-a-dime stops and starts with microsecond precision. Sandell plays with blazing energy and verve throughout most of the set, dealing in percussive physicalities (with more than a hint of Cecil Taylor) punctuated by sudden shards of fractured honky-tonk. Nilssen-Love – a notoriously bullish improviser – seems to respond by easing off the gas just a little, saving his most powerhouse moments for natural, unforced crescendos. They're relaxed enough to have some fun, too: at one point Sandell revels in a bout of low, guttural throat-singing, while at another Nilssen-Love drops his sticks and simply claps a primitive accompaniment. You can virtually feel the music coursing through their systems.