Heilung / Eivor

There’s something quite special about folk music and its history. Countries across the world all have their old tales, and with it great songs to better express these.

One group in particular have made this their entire modus operandi, and that is Heilung. Meaning “Healing” in German, the band formed in 2014 with a combination of German, Danish, and Norwegian members. What started off as a mere thought experiment soon became what the group have come to call “amplified history”, and the band quickly shot to the forefront of the metal scene, where they have been warmly embraced.

With their deeply pagan aesthetic and ritual performances, one would think it would be quite difficult to find a crowd for a band like this in the United Kingdom, but the upgrade from the 02 Academy to the Usher Hall suggests otherwise, and the packed venue only reinforced this.

To open the evening was Eivor, a quartet hailing from the Faroe Islands. What followed was a blend of metal-esque riffs and industrial synths and drum machines, all accompanied by haunting vocals. Think Nine Inch Nails meets Gregorian hymns, and Eivor is what you get. Those familiar with the TV series ‘The Last Kingdom’ will be familiar with Eivor, as they featured on the soundtrack in the show’s final season.

What is so special though is just how intertwined the bands culture and heritage is in their sound. It’s very modern but almost ancient all at once, and though I won’t claim to know all that much about the Faroe Islands, I could picture its great landscapes accompanied by these sounds.

A great black curtain covered the stage with Heilung’s emblem at its centre as the short interval took place. When the curtain was withdrawn, the smell of incense filled the air. An American man at the front of the crowd turned to me at this point and said “Have you ever shot them before?”. I told him it was my first time seeing the band, and with a smile he said “Oh, you’re going to have fun”. An understatement to say the least.

Onto the stage walked a man in ancient Viking-esque robes and horned headdress, incense in one hand and microphone in the other. Behind him another man emerged, brutish and face painted red and black, with more incense and waiving a large feather vigorously until the enticing smell filled the room.

More figures entered the room, all joining hands in the middle of the stage around a runic symbol emblazoned on a carpet on the floor. The marching of drums filled the room as the band broke into ‘In Maidjan’ from their first album, and the Edinburgh crowd was now ready to partake in the ritual laid before them.

For the next two hours the Usher Hall was locked in a fever dream. Blessings were made and offerings were bestowed. Warriors took the stage and beat their shields and thrust their spear into the air. Runic symbols were inscribed across their bodies and illuminated with UV light, all the while the drums thumped in the deep and reverberated off the venues walls.

The whole show came to a head with ‘Hamrer Hippyer’. The warriors leapt from the stage and stood on the railings before the crowd, tongues out and eyes wide, hooping and hollering and swinging their long hair to the beating drums. The energy was at its apex and didn’t relent until the very last moment of the 14 minute track.

The band gathered at centre stage again, joining hands and uttering their closing ceremony before leaving hand in hand like a serpent returning to its lair.

To summarise it all as best as I can, there is simply nothing like a Heilung show. I’d never seen them before this, and I don’t believe I’ll see anything like them until I inevitably see them again (and I can’t wait).

The band claim to be ‘amplified history’, and frankly there isn’t a better term for it. There’s no crowd interaction or speaking in-between songs, no explanations for the songs themselves. It is performance art of the highest degree, one that locks you into a trance-like state and whips you around until you’re finally released, and maybe even healed at the end as the bands name would suggest.

They might not be to everyone’s taste when it strictly comes down to their music, but I would defy absolutely anyone to attend a Heilung performance and not leave changed in some way.