Heilung is a European experimental

folk music Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

band. Formed in 2014 in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

, the group is made up of members from

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Their music is based on texts and

runic inscriptions A runic inscription is an inscription made in one of the various runic alphabets. They generally contained practical information or memorials instead of magic or mythic stories. The body of runic inscriptions falls into the three categories of E ...

from

Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...

of the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

and

Viking Age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

. Heilung describe their music as "amplified history from early medieval northern Europe". Their music is usually about

Germanic deities In Germanic paganism, the indigenous religion of the ancient Germanic peoples who inhabit Germanic Europe, there were a number of different gods and goddesses. Germanic deities are attested from numerous sources, including works of literature, ...

, the Jǫtnar, and

valkyrie In Norse mythology, a valkyrie ( or ; from ) is one of a host of female figures who guide souls of the dead to the god Odin's hall Valhalla. There, the deceased warriors become ('single fighters' or 'once fighters').Orchard (1997:36) and Li ...

s. "" is a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

noun meaning "healing".

History

Heilung was founded in 2014 in

by vocalist Kai Uwe Faust (a German

tattoo artist A tattoo artist (also tattooer or tattooist) is an individual who applies permanent decorative tattoos, often in an established business called a "tattoo shop", "tattoo studio" or "tattoo parlour". Tattoo artists usually learn their craft via an ...

who specializes in

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...

tattoo A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing processes ...

s) and Danish producer Christopher Juul. Juul, who had operated his own recording studio, Lava, in Copenhagen since 2003, admired Faust's visual work as a tattoo artist, so they struck a bargain: Faust offered Juul some free tattoos in exchange for help recording some poems. Thus Heilung was started. Later in 2015, Maria Franz (Juul's longtime girlfriend and a singer in

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog) is a broad genre of rock music that primarily developed in the United Kingdom through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early-to-mid-1970s. Initially termed " progressive pop", the ...

pop-rock Pop rock (also typeset as pop/rock) is a fusion genre and form of rock music characterized by a strong commercial appeal, with more emphasis on professional songwriting and recording craft, and less emphasis on attitude than standard rock musi ...

band Euzen in which Juul also played piano and electronics) started to work with Heilung – originally as a session vocalist. In 2015, the band self-released their debut album, ''Ofnir'', and soon after that Franz became the band's third official member. The band's first performances in 2017 were at

Castlefest Castlefest is a medieval/fantasy festival in the Netherlands, held in the gardens of Castle Keukenhof in Lisse since 2005. History During the first edition in 2005, 3,500 visitors attended the event, in 2007 the festival attracted 16,000 visitor ...

and at the

Midgardsblot Midgardsblot is an annual extreme metal and folk music festival in Borre, Norway. The festival has been organised since 2015 and takes place at , museum in a former Viking settlement and largest burial mound site in Northern Europe. The programme ...

Metalfestival. The Castlefest performance was recorded and released with the title ''Lifa'' on

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

and as a live album. Their 2017 performance at Midgardsblot was listed by ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions published by different companies available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' featu ...

'' as one of the ten best performances of 2017. Later that year, the band signed a contract with the label

Season of Mist Season of Mist is an independent record label and record distributor with subsidiaries in France and the United States. The record label was founded in 1996 by Michael S. Berberian in Marseille, France. From the start releasing black metal, pa ...

. On 20 April 2018, the two previously self-released albums ''Ofnir'' and ''Lifa'' were reissued on vinyl and CD. The band composed the soundtrack for '' Senua's Saga: Hellblade II''. Fragments of Heilung's music were used during season six of the popular television series ''

Vikings Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...

''. Heilung released their third studio album, ''Drif'', on 19 August 2022 through Season of Mist. The album peaked at No. 9 and No. 25 in the German and Austrian album charts respectively. Heilung performed at

Glastonbury Festival 2024 The 2024 Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts took place between 26 and 30 June at Worthy Farm in Pilton, Somerset and followed the 2023 edition of the festival. The three headlining acts were Dua Lipa, Coldplay, and SZA, with S ...

. They contribued as guest musicians on

Kati Rán Kati Rán is a Dutch musician and historical instrumentalist, her style being compared with Wardruna, Heilung, and Faun. She released her first album ''LYS'' in 2015 under the bandname "L.E.A.F." with guest musicians including Kai Uwe Faust of Heil ...

's ''SÁLA'' album. In November 2024, Heilung announced a European tour for 2025, with a final show on 17 August after which they plan to go on a hiatus.

Style

According to Faust, the name of the band, "Heilung", which means "healing" in

, says something about the style of the band: "The listener is supposed to be left at ease and in a relaxed state after a magical musical journey that is at times turbulent". The recordings of the band are not limited to music, but also contain

poems Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

and the

spoken word Spoken word is an oral poetic performance art that is based mainly on the poem as well as the performer's aesthetic qualities. It is a 20th-century continuation of an oral tradition, ancient oral artistic tradition that focuses on the aesthetic ...

. The music has a kind of timeless quality, offering a version of shamanic music intended not simply for esthetic appreciation but immersive, visceral connection, a state of mind that the Neanderthals may well have accessed in similar ways. The references to the early ages of European cultures are also made by using texts from historical artefacts or historical poems. The languages used are varied, with

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Culture, language and peoples * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England * ''English'', an Amish ter ...

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

, Icelandic,

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic; Danish and ; ; ; ) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a northern dialect of Proto-Germanic in the first centuries CE. It is the earliest stage of a c ...

Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...

, and Viking age

being used. As instruments, items are used that may have been already available to humans in the Iron Age, such as drums, bones or spears. According to an August 2018 interview, the instruments they use consist of: * drums, including one with horse skin painted with human blood, two drums with deerskin and a drum with goatskin * bones, including a human forearm bone and deer bones * a buffalo horn rattle * a clay rattle with human ashes * a Hindu ritual bell * antiques from temples * a reconstructed silver cup from the

Viking age The Viking Age (about ) was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonising, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. The Viking Age applies not only to their ...

* a

ravanahatha A ravanahatha (variant names: ''ravanhatta'', ''rawanhattha'', ''ravanastron'', ''ravana hasta veena'') is an ancient bowed, stringed instrument, used in India, Sri Lanka, and surrounding areas. It has been suggested as an ancestor of the violin. ...

(an ancient instrument used in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

and surrounding areas, originating from

Hela HeLa () is an immortalized cell line used in scientific research. It is the oldest human cell line and one of the most commonly used. HeLa cells are durable and prolific, allowing for extensive applications in scientific study. The line is ...

People, then brought to

North India North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...

Hanuman Hanuman (; , ), also known as Maruti, Bajrangabali, and Anjaneya, is a deity in Hinduism, revered as a divine ''vanara'', and a devoted companion of the deity Rama. Central to the ''Ramayana'', Hanuman is celebrated for his unwavering devotio ...

, then to India) * other rattles, whistles, and percussive instruments Faust's throat singing recalls the Mongolian style. Juul uses a chirping whisper as vocals. Elaborately designed costumes are worn by the band members on stage. These are partly based on the "spiritual traditions of the

Eurasia Eurasia ( , ) is a continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. According to some geographers, Physical geography, physiographically, Eurasia is a single supercontinent. The concept of Europe and Asia as distinct continents d ...

circumpolar peoples Circumpolar peoples and Arctic peoples are umbrella terms for the various indigenous peoples of the Arctic region. Approximately four million people are resident in the Arctic, among which 10 percent are indigenous peoples belonging to a vast nu ...

", or are historically correct reproductions of

Nordic Bronze Age The Nordic Bronze Age (also Northern Bronze Age, or Scandinavian Bronze Age) is a period of Scandinavian prehistory from . The Nordic Bronze Age culture emerged about 1750 BC as a continuation of the Late Neolithic Dagger period, which is root ...

clothing.

Members

Current members * Kai Uwe Faust – vocals (2014–present) * Christopher Juul – music, production (2014–present) * Maria Franz – vocals (2015–present) Session/touring musicians * Jacob Lund (2017–present) * Nicolas Schipper Pérez (2018–present) * Annicke Shireen (2018–present) * Mira Ceti (2021–present) * Emilie Lorentzen (2018–2022) * Juan Pino (2017–2018) * Alex Opazo (2017–2022) * Jonas Lorentzen (2017–2018) Show group ("Heilung warriors Europe") * Espen Winther (2017–2018) * Pan Bartkowiak (2017–2024) * Faber Horbach (2017–2022) * Leon Remie (2017) * Marijn Sies (2017–2024) * Ruben Terlouw (2017–present) * Jens de Vries (2017–2022) * Gwydion Zomer (2017–present) * Martin Skou (2018–present) * Martin Kufahl (2018–present) * Emilie Lorentzen (2018) * Mira Ceti (2019) * Jarasol (2019–present) * Obban (2019–present) * Sami (2019–present) * Edward Boyter (2019–present) * Nadja Kalameiets (2019–present) * Janne van Ooij (2019–present) * Adélie (2022–present) * Chloe Bakker (2022–present) * Mitchell Bosch (2022–present) * Luca Borsoti (2022–present) * Jeff Coyard (2022–present) * Kristian (2022–present) * Katalin Papp (2022–present) * Steven Pilon (2022–present) * Annet Postma (2022–present) * Nina Schilp (2022–present) * Rowan Schuddeboom (2022–present) Show group ("Heilung warriors USA") * Alex Chabot (2020–present) * Danny Davies (2020) * William Johnson (2020)

Timeline

Discography

Studio albums * ''Ofnir'' (2015, self-released; reissued in 2018 on Season of Mist) * ''Futha'' (2019, Season of Mist) * ''Drif'' (2022, Season of Mist) Live albums * ''Lifa'' (2017, Season of Mist) * ''Lifa Iotungard'' (2024, Season of Mist)

Accolades

Heilung was nominated in the ''Best Underground Band'' category for a Metal Hammer Golden Gods Award in 2018. Heilung tied for the World Traditional Award in the 18th Independent Music Awards with the song Norupo.

References

{{Authority control Danish folk music groups German folk music groups Norwegian folk musical groups Danish musical trios German musical trios Norwegian musical trios Musical groups established in 2014 Season of Mist artists Mixed-gender bands