The Ritual Unfolds: A Concert Beyond Music, a journey through ancient history
Attending a Heilung concert feels like stepping into a different world, where time fades and ancient energies awaken. The performance in Stuttgart wasn’t just music; it was a deeply moving ritual, where the air felt thick with ancestral echoes.
Heilung, meaning „healing“ in German, is a unique musical collective formed in 2014 by Danish producer Christopher Juul, German singer Kai-Uwe Faust, and Norwegian vocalist Maria Franz.
The band creates an immersive experience by blending elements of ancient texts, reconstructed historical instruments, and theatrical performances. Their music draws heavily from early medieval and Iron Age cultures, particularly those of Northern Europe, often incorporating lyrics from Old Norse, Germanic, and other archaic languages.
The band describes their work as „amplified history,“ aiming to revive ancient spiritual practices and warrior cultures through their evocative performances.
Armed with this knowledge, we headed to Stuttgart in the first week of September to experience the ritual first hand. The tickets had been bought way back in spring, and the Beethovensaal in Stuttgart’s Liederhalle promised an ideal setting (as did our seats in the upper left half of the balcony). We being Jenny, Katrin, Kim, Tobi and me.
A few words about the venue: I’ve rarely been to such a cleverly designed space. The acoustics were outstanding, the seats comfortable with ample legroom, and everything—restrooms, bars, and parking—was conveniently close. I highly recommended this venue.
Now, to the ritual. While I enjoy some of Zeal & Ardor’s music, they felt out of place as an opener for this occasion.
Bands like Kalandra, or one of the many Scandinavian projects like Heldom, Runfall, or Danheim, would have been more fitting—but this was soon forgotten once the shaman entered the stage. The Opening Ceremony was only the beginning of a journey beyond our physical selves, far removed from a concert hall in southern Germany.
As the first notes of Asja reverberated through the venue, the atmosphere palpably shifted. Healing chants, interwoven with primal drumbeats, transformed us from mere spectators into participants of a shared ceremony. Krigsgaldr, known to many from the Norwegian show Ragnarök, was a perfect follow-up.
After Hakkerskaldyr and the haunting Svanrand, we arrived at the ritual’s core. The sequence Tenet | Traust | Anoana was simply magical.
Tenet is the first Heilung song I ever listened to, hidden in my weekly suggestions on Spotify two years back. I immediately recognized the Sator-Square, a five-word Latin palindrome and was of course intrigued…
My first encounter with it had been as engraved on a plaque on the tank of an old motorcycle my friend Helmut ownes. The song, composed of five euqally exchangable and intricate parts, is a testament to the genius of Kai and Chris—its story is truly fascinating. There’s stuff on youtube about it…
In Traust, the ritualistic power truly came alive. The song’s hypnotic rhythm and droning vocal layers pulsed in sync with the heartbeat of everyone present. We were not just watching; but breathing in the rhythm, connected to the warriors, healers, and ancestors invoked by the performers on stage. Every beat of the drum, every chant, felt like a collective vow—a reaffirmation of ancient bonds that transcend time. The energy was tangible, as though the spirits summoned in the song were moving through the audience. It felt as if we had all been sacrificed and reborn – if you know the song *gg*.
Then came Anoana, where the air grew even more electric, yet serene. With every movement, every chant, the stage became sacred ground. The line between the physical and the ethereal blurred recognisably. In those moments, it feels less like a concert and more like witnessing a primordial ritual – a convergence of history, myth, and music that just leaves you deeply moved.
The final songs passed in a meditative atmosphere, leaving us stunned by what we had witnessed and felt. A whispered “Dankeschön” at the end of the Closing Ceremony was the only direct interaction with the audience—a fitting conclusion to an otherworldly experience.
Thank you, Heilung.
The ritual:
Opening Ceremony
In Maidjan
Alfadhirhaiti
Asja
Krigsgaldr
Hakkerskaldyr
Svanrand
Tenet
Traust
Anoana
Galgaldr
Elddansurin
Hamrer Hippyer
Closing Ceremony
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