Heilung @ Palais Theatre

My favourite pagan lords and ladies returned for another primal, mesmerising, out-of-this-world performance.

I was utterly thrilled to see Heilung back in Australia just over a year after their revelatory, transcendent shows at the Forum Theatre. This time I was only able to attend one night of the two, but it didn’t feel any less satisfying. I had a double reason to feel excited, because this time around they came along with the most perfect opening act I could have imagined, the bewitching Faroese singer-songwriter Eivør.

Of all the days in the year, the concert happened to fall on the date of the US elections. Despite my best intentions, I of course got sucked into the drama and the circus, checking the news obsessively throughout the working day, and so I really looked forward to zoning out of reality for a few hours. Unfortunately, my intent to make an effort and dress up for the occasion likewise fell through, so my Norse priestess fantasy has to wait until the next Heilung gig.

Eivør was just as wonderful and enchanting as I had expected, playing her opening set to an appreciative audience. Backed by a three-piece band, she was a magnetic stage presence in a dramatic black costume that was part ancient armor, part gothic queen, her ethereal vocals soaring over the blend of traditional folk and modern soundscapes. I didn’t expect to recognise all the songs, but I would have been disappointed not to hear Trøllabundin, surely her signature tune if there was one, so I was stoked when its hypnotic opening drum beat finally announced itself. I never dreamed that I’d ever see Eivør in Australia and she was definitely a warm-up act to remember.

Soon after, the stage filled with smoke and incense and the soft sounds of the forest, as the Heilung collective, dressed in Nordic garb and body paint, gathered onstage for their ritualistic circle. I was curious to see how the experience would translate to a more formal venue with allocated seats, and while it wasn’t anywhere near as visceral as being close to the stage in the general admission, the setting seemed to enhance the theatrical, otherworldly nature of the show.

The outside world fell away and disappeared, and the mic stands felt like the only real reminders that I was still in the twenty-first century rather than the ancient past. I don’t think I have any Nordic blood in me (not according to the Ancestry DNA anyway), but maybe there are echoes of the pagan Slavic past hidden somewhere deep inside that made this experience resonate so much. I’m one of life’s observers who always tends to be slightly on the outside, and I’ve rarely felt as in-the-moment and captivated as I did at the Heilung concerts.

The show was very similar to last year’s, especially the first half; when the songs and sequences flow together so seamlessly, why improve the perfection? Once again, there were set pieces with fearsome warriors bellowing war chants, a haunting sacrifice and resurrection scene, a face-off between the two horned shamanic figures. However it wasn’t a total carbon copy, with a different stage setup and lighting including a glowing red moon, a few newer songs thrown into the set list, and eucalyptus branches adding some local flavour. The most dramatic new addition was a dancer performing with two giant antlers with their tips lit up – how did real fire make it past the Victorian OHS??

Maria Franz was once again divine, but somehow this time around it was Kai Uwe Faust’s powerful throat singing that had the greatest impact, a great guttural force vibrating through the Palais. The onstage energy and powerful tribal rhythms made sitting down a challenge at times, but as the show drew to a close, Faust urged the audience to join them in the euphoric closer, clapping and dancing as we all celebrated the transformative power of music and old pre-Christian culture. There’s still truly nothing like a Heilung show.