Review HEILUNG ‘Drif’

Heilung is certainly more than just a band. Heilung is a holistic concept in which rites and history are a fundamental pillars. Kai Uwe Faust and Christopher Juul from Euzen founded the band in 2014, and Maria Franz joined the band as a vocalist, who has since then became a central part of every Heilung live show.

In a way, it is a phenomenon that Heilung with their spiritual and Nordic-anchored sounds have found their way into the world of heavy metal. Now the theme is not unfamiliar to heavy metal and also the very rhythm-based music is a parallel with the world of hard guitar music. Riffs, however, one looks for in vain when listening to Heilung and that’s a good thing, because the trio has much more to offer.

Heilung, live on stage is a total experience that can only be reproduced on record to a limited degree.

Despite its high reputation, the trio also does not have an excessive number of longplayers to its credit yet. ‘Ofnir’ was the 2015 debut album, followed by ‘Furtha’, which hit the record stores in 2019. With ‘Drif’, the three now follow up and release a record that seamlessly follows its predecessors.

Photo: Andy Julia

‘Drif’ is interesting and the songs seem unusual. You have to get absorbed by the album, because it asks for the complete attention of the listener. This longplayer can’t be easily listened to during a car ride to vacation. Too intense are songs like the repetitive ‘Buslas Bann’ with a constantly repeating main motif that creates an almost meditative mood. In compare, the melodic and spiritual sounding ‘Nikkai’ is recreation for the senses.

With ‘Tenet’, ‘Drif’ also has a song on the tracklist which is with over 13 minutes rather long. In the center is Marie Franz’ voice which leads like a kind of narrator through the track. Accompanied by samples, the song seems like the musical interpretation of a radio play, which is probably intentional.

Fans of the band will enjoy ‘Drif’ as the trio continues its journey through the Nordic myths. However, you have to get engaged with the album and the music listening carefully, otherwise you will get the effect of lengthiness.

‘Drif’ is certainly a very interesting and unconventional album. If you want to leave reality behind for 58 minutes and dive into another world, ‘Drif’ is the right choice, although the live performance on the stages of this world are certainly even more intense.