HEILUNG

For the uninitiated, "Lifa Otungard" is the perfect introduction to the strange and mesmerizing world of HEILUNG. Recorded at Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre in October 2021, this is a worthy document of the moment the Scandinavian collective spread their unique blend of ritual, repetition and revelation across the Atlantic. Drawing from their first two albums — "Ofnir" (2015) and "Futha" (2019) — this is an impeccably produced and sumptuously atmospheric affair, and a refined snapshot of HEILUNG's ever-evolving live identity, circa three years ago.

Dominated by sprawling epics like the drone-driven and stuttering "Traust", HEILUNG's performance is executed with their customary, naturalistic flair. With a shared gift for not just evoking spirits of the past, but bringing them to life, they have transfixed audiences around the world, and at least some of that charismatic magic is present and palpable here. There is, however, a slight problem with "Lifa Otungard". Perhaps more so than with any other band currently operating (however tangentially) within heavy music, HEILUNG are best experienced in the flesh. In fact, although the audio soundtrack to this legendary show is undoubtedly enjoyable and even intermittently moving, a substantial part of the whole experience is conspicuous by its absence.

Realistically, nothing can ever come close to being at the heart of a huge crowd and witnessing HEILUNG perform their rituals for real. As compelling visually as they are musically, they have become masters of the collective, hyper-emotional and hypnotic experience. Most of the crowds who have seen them to date will have had absolutely no idea what songs like "Alfadhirhaiti" and "Norupo" are actually about, beyond some vague notion of "amplified history". But HEILUNG make music that transcends the usual songwriting paradigms, acting more like tranced-out techno, albeit with drums that resound across aeons, and vocals that span from a guttural, throaty chanting to the elegantly ethereal. Playing live is the most fundamental tenet of the band's philosophy; so prized is that connection with the masses. Unfortunately, as sonically pristine and fervently atmospheric as "Lifa Otungard" plainly is, it tells only half of the story.

There are ways around this, of course. If you are able to get spectacularly high beforehand, 84 minutes of transcendental thumping will just fly by. Equally, tribal trance show-closer "Hamrer Hippyer" is a simply phenomenal and righteously insane piece of psychedelic mayhem that will blow minds in any context. But in every other respect, "Lifa Otungard" works best as an incentive to see this madness in its full-blown, epoch-shattering glory.