Timeline of the Experience

For six years, we in Slagmaur engineered an illusion — a merging of black metal, folklore, and psychological stage magic. Hulders Ritual was never just an album; it was a controlled experiment in perception, fear, and storytelling. What the world believed was a true-crime mystery was, in fact, the ritual itself.

The Truth

No one was missing.
No one was hunted.
No house stalked its trespassers.
The forest was our stage.
The fear was your contribution.
The reaction was the art.

This was the greatest black metal social experiment of the 21st century.

11 November 2025 — The Journey Starts

We posted the following post on our social media profiles about our upcoming journey into the forest.

13 November 2025 — The news hits

Afternoon: After the a concerning prolonged absence of the artists, A large search operation is underway, but poor weather, dense fog and an incoming storm make conditions difficult. Their car was found unlocked, and their phones provide little usable tracking. Rescue teams are following the men’s intended route toward Tussbotna and Torsenget, while also considering alternative paths. Authorities urge anyone in the area to report sightings as the search continues.

Later the same day the image is posted online of the identities of the artists is revealed to the public and the story is shared among the conspirators on social media along with black metal news outlets quickly reporting the developing situation.

Evening: By evening on the 14th, the stage was set. Reports emerged of a thirs missing person, with a prior relation to Slagmaur and Rune.

Night: A rescue worker falls through a staircase and pierces their foot on a pitchfork. Seemingly the house is rigged with traps and a sulphur smell lingers in the air of the house.

The property is then sealed-off as a crime scene which created the first cracks in reality.
The weather turned violent, isolating the house and deepening the tension.

14 November — The mystery is created

Morning: Rune’s mother expressed her fear, recalling her son’s childhood encounter with the elderly woman.
This fear — real, personal, emotional — became the human anchor of the illusion.

Her memories of Rune’s old lawsuit with the woman tied the narrative threads together without us needing to say a word.

Afternoon: Local historian shares his insight on the lore surrounding Varghiet and the imagination of what might've happened takes hold.

Local lore rose naturally to the surface:

• tales of angel-makers

• poltergeist activity

• American commandos fleeing children’s voices

• the Varghiet curse

• and the Serbian escapees of 1943 who hid in the same forests

These stories were not ours — they already existed. We simply let them breathe.

Late that night, the search was paused. The terrain, weather, and fear made sure of that.

15 November — The Illusion Tightens

Rescue teams pushed on despite worsening snow and cold.
From the very beginning we knew: once volunteers started withdrawing out of fear, the story would take on a life of its own.

The storm that was expected hits and both harsh winds and fog makes the search challenging, search teams in both the forest and at the basecamp are still focused on the task at hand.

The Forest Speaks Through Its People

Reporters from Fosen Folket drove into the storm to find some farmers living in the area looking for answers about the woman and folklore seemingly haunting the area.

Local farmer Ronny Sørstø sat perfectly within the folklore we based our ritual on.
He spoke of capturing “the old woman and the children,” of witches and ghosts — blending perfectly into the mythos we built upon.

Later the same evening, the reporters arrived at the farm furthest into the forest. Burning brush and the remains of pigs filled the air with the smell of scorched meat — a smell we relied on heavily in our sensory design of the ritual.

The men spoke of the forest’s isolation, of hearing nothing but radio static and animals.
The reporters pressed on toward Tussbotna, toward the heart of the narrative.

15 November, — Detonation

When we triggered Operation Master of Deceptions, the illusion went global.
Millions watched in hours.
Tens of thousands engaged.
Volunteers, critics, and conspiracy theorists amplified the effect far beyond anything paid marketing could achieve.

You didn’t just watch the ritual.
You became the ritual.

The Revelation — Why We Did It

Our intention was never just promotion.
This was:

• a study in folklore

• a psychological experiment

• a literary construction

• and a demonstration that human creativity still surpasses algorithmic noise

We built an illusion worthy of the old Norwegian tales: a modern “bergtatt,” where the audience is abducted not by hulders, but by a story.

The haters, the theorists, the self-declared detectives — they carried the ritual on their backs.

Watch the behind the scenes