Photos – Britt Andrews
Review – Brendan Delavere
Heilung, amplified history. This, their second ritual tour down under, is a much larger affair. Nine shows in Australia and New Zealand (many sold out), Australia has awoken to the aural spectacle after their inaugural three shows in 2023.
Faroese multi genre artist Eivor is the only support on this tour, an amalgamation of Icelandic folk, electronica, and riffing. Bathed in a prism of light beams, the singer, cloaked from head to toe, entranced the entirely of the Enmore Theatre. Applause was held to the end of each song, the set encompassing her 25-year discography. A multi instrumentalist, switching from guitars to rhythmic drumming, her voice soaring with the high notes, cutting in and out of a low growly hiss. Enn, Jarðartrá and the soulful, slow burn of Trøllabundin left the audience in awe.
As the curtain rises, and before the lights dim, a Welcome to Country is performed, the crowd, respectful and silent, feeling as one tonight with the call of “it’s our land, and it’s your land.”
Heilung is a force to behold, like nothing that has been seen in centuries. The crowd is silent for the opening ceremony save for the call and response; “We all descend from the one great being, that was always there…”
With the echoes of birdsong filling the air, the drumming begins with In Maidjan, and what follows is two hours of spiritual, ritualistic performance.
The stage is adorned with native flora, eucalyptus gums lending their branches to be apart of this visual extravagance.
Smoke fills the venue, burning incense wafts, lingering in the air, making patterns as the beams of light bounce off it. The rhythmic beating of drums continues like a heartbeat, Nicholas Schipper is that beating heart of the ritual.
War-like chanting, stamping, clashing of swords and shields, the haunting melodies of Maria Franz contrasting with Kai Uwe Faust’s gravel-throated tongue. “But you only understand the language of the sword” he growls, the phalanx of warriors thrusting their spears into the air.
An intimate moment, Franz and Faust bathed in a single spotlight, Tenet builds to a tribal, transcendental, and surreal atmosphere. It is ancient, otherworldly, akin to a religious experience, it is art and history colliding all at once.
The final spectacle, an orgy of drumming, animalistic howls, and guttural chants, Hamrer Hippyer has the crowd moving, dancing, braying and howling. The warriors join the fray, climbing the barrier, inviting frenzy.
The crowd is silent once more, the closing ceremony, the sponging with holy smoke, the crowd erupt with several rounds of applause as the troupe take their final bows.
A truly spiritual experience.
