10 Heavy Metal Bands Genuinely Progressing The Genre
6. Heilung
To move forwards, you sometimes have to look backwards. Although Folk Metal has spent decades plundering history books and traditions, very few have managed to attain a level of such affecting pagan ritualism as Nordic experimentalists Heilung.
Despite only consisting of three members, the band manage to create a soundscape as arresting as it is oppressive, surrounding the listener with ancient instrumentation including deerskin drums, Hindu ritual bells and actual human bones.
Layered on top of this customs nightmare of a tour kit are poems from proto-European cultures and tribal throat singing, and live shows are often compared to pagan rituals, replete with warriors, rune casting and even the occasional bonfire.
Currently
attempting to tour their third album, and set to soundtrack the follow up to
video game ‘Senua’s Sacrifice’, the force of nature that is Heilung’s
‘amplified history’ seems all but unstoppable.