Live Review: Heilung - O2 Apollo, Manchester
21st April 2025
Support: Eivor
Words: Dan Barnes
Photos: Rich Price
The great privilege of being able to review music is those times when something unexpected just blows you away. Familiar as I was with the aesthetic and old-world approach of Heilung, nothing truly prepared me to face the entity in all its raw, savage state.
Selling out the three-and-a-half-thousand capacity Apollo is not something everyone can do, but the line to get in stretches all the way up and then all the way back down Apsley Grove, dog legging off along the Stockport Road. The demographics range from the conspicuously curious normies to the die hard, Valhalla-bound Viking hordes, attired in their best furs and war paint for the evening.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the Apollo so rammed for a support band, but the security staff were warning people that the front of the auditorium was full less than halfway through Eivør’s set.
The Faroese singer sets the tone for the evening with Jarðartrá, one of four tracks from her most recent record, Enn. Cool blue back light and a primordial hum start things slowly, a deep bass buzz and ancient percussion build an antique rhythm, with delicate keys picking out points like some Folk Horror soundtrack. Hugsi bert um teg has a more upbeat vibe, with Eivør taking on a Within Temptation hue to her voice.
Salt and Í Tokuni, both from the 2017 record, Slør find the performance taking a deep delve into the pre-historic past, evoking Egger’s The Northman, through complex and booming percussion, along with acapella singing and building atmospherics.
The second half of the set has instrumentation on a cosmic scale, Clannad-style celtic-tinged progressions, discordant rhythms and endlessly repetitive cycles. Trøllabundin, from the self-titled album of 2004 is the oldest song tonight, but that hardly matters as the ancient score pays little heed to an odd twenty-years here and there.
Meaning ‘healing’ in German, Danish/ German/ Norwegian neo-folk, pagan, ambient and ethnic collective, Heilung have only been a viable touring band since 2017, but have quickly garnered a reputation for the intensity of their live shows, leading them to places at some of the continent’s most prestigious music events.
Starting their live career at Castlefest in the Netherlands – where the band’s Lifa album was recorded - and at the Midgardsblot Metal Festival in Norway, leading to that performance being hailed as one of the Ten Best Live Shows of 2017 by Metal Hammer, it wasn’t long before Heilung were serious live contenders.
Post-pandemic and the band have graced the stages of such heavyweight events as Glastonbury, Download and Hellfest, yet have announced that this year’s European tour, which ends in August, will be followed by a hiatus.
A curtain is pulled across the stage after Eivør’s show, allowing the roadcrew some privacy to ready Heilung’s set. For rest assured what is about to unfold is closer to theatrics than a concert as you would normally define it.
There’s a growing buzz as the clock approached nine, and the Apollo’s lights dim slowly; as the curtain is drawn back it reveals an arcadian scene, tree branches twisted into nooks for drums and their drummers.
But before anything can begin, the endeavour must be sanctified, and the whole collective take the stage and perform the cleansing ritual of the Opening Ceremony, an ancient rite that calls for, and receives, the investment of the audience. As I watch this occurring, I can start to empathise with Neil Howie when he landed on Summerisle.
Shamanistic rhythms fall from the drums, forming mesmeric, hypnotic movement from Kai Uwe Faust, masked and horned, he is the male leader of tonight’s invocation. His female counterpart, Maria Franz, dressed in flowing white garments, and also horned, takes lead vocal on In Maidjan’s esoteric mass.
Dark vocals as though echoing from the bones of the land itself, coupled with tribal rhythms let you know a Heilung show is to be experienced, like some coming-of-age ritual practised by an ancient people. The closest I can think to compare is Sunn O))), whose music is so unfamiliar to contemporary sensibilities that finding a common ground is all but impossible.
An orange glow backlights the stage, and through a fog we see an army of warriors lined up for battle; spears and shields at the ready, they are but shadows, waiting for war worthy beats. Those beats come as the stage turns to black and rapidly firing spotlights fire to give the onstage action a montage feel.
Fan favourites Asja, Othan, Seidh take the crowd to places and times they hadn’t been before as the whole performance becomes a singular prayer to the Iron Age gods of Europe.
Christopher Juul has stood colossus over Heilung’s musical production since the outset and it is a testament to his creativity and artistic vision that a set composed predominantly around percussion, with some additional period appropriate instruments, could be so accessible to a twenty-first century audience. As with Sunn O))) the secret is to find the way to key yourself into the soundscape and allow yourself to be drawn along with it.
By the time set closer, Hamrer Hippyer comes about the stage is filled with the extensive cast of Heilung’s characters, all dancing frenziedly as the rite reaches its end.
Whatever muses the ensemble is possessed of are recalled during the Closing Ceremony, bringing an end to one of the most intriguing – and unique - live spectacles I can recall ever seeing.
It’s an experience I would heartily recommend to anyone who has the opportunity to witness; just leave any expectations outside the door.
Photo Credits: Rich Price Photography
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