HULDERS RITUAL

With their fourth studio album Hulders Ritual (Ritual of the Huldra), Slagmaur break the chains of repetition and nostalgia by rewriting the rules of black metal. This does not mean abandoning the foundations of the genre, which is already indicated by working with the inventor of the Norwegian black metal sound, THORNS mastermind Snorre W. Ruch, as an additional producer. The bands founder, General Gribbsphiiser, rather unafraid and with reckless abandon mutates and warps the traditional formula through a host of subtle innovations and tweaks of the classic sound. Although Hulders Ritual continues, refines, and widens the daring stylistic balance of Slagmaurs previous works, it adds an extra dimension of sardonic mania to its collection of sharp and vicious sonic instruments. Choice guest-contributions that include TAAKE vocalist Hoest, DIMMU BORGIR guitarist Silenoz, and MISTHYRMING frontman D.G., who cover three decades of Nordic black metal make a case in point. Slagmaur hail from Brekstad on the Fosen peninsula in the Trondelag region and are a part of the Trondheim-based Nidrosian black metal movement. Although Gribbsphiiser started the band as a solo project, he already recruited fellow musicians during the recording of his first demo, Svin (2006). Slagmaurs black avant-garde debut album, Skrekk Lich Kunstler (2007), marked the premier instalment in the still-unfolding series, The Art of Olderman. The following studio albums Von Rov Shelter (2009) and Thill Smitts Terror (2017) continued this story arc. Hulders Ritual is for those, who are seeking musical darkness, magic, and the relentless breaking of limitations from black metal. Slagmaur push forward among the select few that are leading the way to the future of the genre.