More than a year has passed since HEILUNG last performed. That silence ends in October, when the collective return to Lava Studios to begin their fourth full-length album — and they have used the announcement to draw a line about how it will be made.
"When HEILUNG creates its magic, we do so by fully immersing ourselves in our bubble by closing the doors to the noise of the outside world, which these days, between automation and conflict, seems louder than just a few years ago," the group says.
The point gets sharper from there. "In German, Heilung means healing. It speaks to one of the core intentions for our project: to heal. Because healing is needed and has always been needed," they continue. "The path the band has taken, and will remain committed to, is deeply rooted in history, spirituality and art. It will not be influenced by any modern ideology, trend or form of automation."
It is a firmer position than most acts bother to state, and it arrives in a month when metal has been arguing about exactly this — ACCEPT's Wolf Hoffmann warning that labels may start dropping bands for machines, EXHORDER's Kyle Thomas saying he would rather a person got the artwork job.
"HEILUNG lives between all this," the collective adds. "It lives in the imperfections between the perfect. It lives in the grass, and, sometimes, the thorns beneath our bare feet. It lives in laughter, crying, love and fear. Everywhere you focus, there's a door that leads to healing. HEILUNG guards this door and welcomes you inside."
Before the album, there is 'Sagas', which the band call "a special amplified gift from the past" and are careful to distinguish from a normal release. "This is no ordinary HEILUNG release," they say. "This is something special."
'Sagas' collects what HEILUNG recorded with games developer Ninja Theory for 'Senua's Saga: Hellblade II', including material that never made it into the game. Their involvement was announced back in 2019, and the game's reveal trailer had already used "In Maidjan" from their 2015 debut 'Ofnir'.
"Eight years ago, we began collaborating with Ninja Theory," HEILUNG say. "This led to a long, intensive and hyper creative period that focused on the crossroads between vast Icelandic landscapes and the innermost corners of the human mind. Some of the sounds we created found their way into 'Senua's Saga: Hellblade II'. However, many did not. Until now, with 'Sagas'. Soon, these recordings of our travels from deep underground ice caves, over bursting volcanoes, through endless lava deserts and into the very depths of our own minds will be released in their raw entirety."
Full details on 'Sagas' are still to come. The trailer is below.