I can’t remember who first hipped me to Heilung, but it might’ve been via a highly entertaining review by former “Noise the Show” shouter Tim Sommer of their gig at Webster Hall several months back (y’know, before everything went completely kablooey). In any event, I found the notion of a gaggle of warpaint-slathered, spear-brandishing Danes wearing antlers and stomping around somewhat compelling, and their videos were both intriguing and not-just-a-little endearingly ridiculous. I immediately lamented not attending the show in question.
Further investigation bore out that the enigmatic Heilung occupied a strange, musical middle ground between, say, Dead Can Dance and GWAR, despite the fact that they seem to take themselves quite seriously, and despite some elements of their audience mistakenly getting the impression that there was some white supremacy bullshit at their core — there isn’t.
Then, further capturing my imagination, I watched this interview with members of the band, who suggested that fans had claimed that the live Heilung experience had purportedly relieved them of their tinnitus. As someone who has grappled with Tinnitus (in my right ear) for two decades, I was all for it.
On a lark, I picked up their live album, Lifa, and spent the next few weeks listening to their immersive brand of hypnotic whatsis.
Richly ripe for a meandering strolls in deep, primeval forests, Lifa by Heilung — which means “healing” in Danish — did absolutely fuck-all to relieve my tinnitus in any capacity, but it is some pretty remarkable stuff.
Here’s a helping….
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