SLAGMAUR Announces New Album, Admits Band’s Frontman And THORNS’ Mastermind Were Never Missing

Last month we reported that Thorns mastermind Snorre W. Ruch and Slagmaur guitarist and bassist Rune “General Gribbsphiiser” Røstad were missing in the mountains near Tjønnstua, Norway. That news was reposted by Dagur Gíslason of Misþyrming, which added a level of legitimacy to the whole thing.

Some readers reached out to say that the report was very likely AI-generated on a fake website, though personally I felt like the story should stay up until someone in the band actually commented on the situation… and now they have.

Slagmaur has just announced a new record called Hulders Ritual due out on February 27, 2026 featuring Gíslason, Hoest of Taake, Maria Charlotte Lund, and Silenoz of Dimmu Borgir on guest vocals plus Ruch contributing additional production.

On the disappearance, Slagmaur‘s label Prophecy wrote in their press release: “When Gribbsphiiser and Snorre Ruch staged their much debated disappearance prior to the announcement of the album, this action was far from a simple media stunt but directly tied to the stories of abduction and disappearance caused by supernatural beings on Hulders Ritual.

“It also served as a reminder that the mechanics by which the orally transmitted folk tales, children’s rhymes, and local stories of old that inspire Slagmaur still work in the digital age – with the marked difference that the circulation happens radically faster and globally.

“Slagmaur have never intended their lyrics as a simple retelling of old stuff, but rather as a defiant challenge of conventions or as unsettling and confrontational provocation. Gribbsphiiser occasionally assumes the role of a black jester, who dares to hold up a mirror to society and does not care, if generating a story that goes viral despite a plethora of deliberately planted clues and full of holes causes opposition.”

So there you go – edgy black metal shit. Hulders Ritual is available for pre-order here and you can check out the first single “Huldergeist” below.

On the single, Gribbsphiiser said: “The first single from our new album Hulders Ritual is based on a historic event at Fosen, when someone went ‘bergtatt’, which means a person that was taken by the hidden folk and has vanished without a trace. The event is well attested in local village chronicles.

“Dark rituals, paranormal phenomena, and deep-rooted folklore do not just build the core of this track but also form the concept behind Hulders Ritual. On this track, I am joined on vocals by D.G. from Misþyrming and the climatic finale is perfectly delivered by Taake‘s Hoest. The song closes with the Hulder‘s answer, which is beautifully performed by the vocalist Maria Charlotte Lund. The music video was filmed by Håkon Settemsdal, who is one of the world’s leading drone pilots and a two-time award winner with the drone manufacturer DJI.”