The first sound you hear on ‘Læknisgaldr’ was not made by anything from our reality. During the recording process, somehow, while playing with real human bones and breath, we managed to capture a ghost in the studio!
‘Læknisgaldr’ is conceived as a song of healing. It is rooted in a belief from the early medieval period that language is bound to the condition of the human body: to name an affliction is to define it, contain it and open it to ritual healing. With each repetition of the song’s percussive beat the affliction weakens, until chanting guides it towards dissolution. The track is the lead single from Sagas, Heilung‘s first studio release since Drif, which arrives on Season of Mist on December 11th, 2026.
The video, directed by Gornoss, tells the second part of a greater story about trauma. It opens with the surreal imagery of Maria Franz followed by a man in a bearskin, equal parts uncanny and familiar, reminiscent of Eastern European pre-Christian winter traditions that survive to this day, when men dress as bears, don goat coats and melt completely into the wild dance of the kukeri. Set in the forest after a battle has ended, it follows warriors who reach a state of absolute safety and security and are guided into neurogenic tremors, the way mammals shake off the adrenaline built up by shock or danger, as Kai Uwe Faust explains it.
The lyrics themselves reduce and simplify, like the illness being treated, the full word “Sóttarfar” losing a letter at a time “Sóttarfa, Sóttarf, Sóttar, Sótta, Sótt, Sót, Só” and ending in the hushing “Sssss“.
Sagas collects recordings that core members Kai Uwe Faust, Maria Franz and Christopher Juul created in collaboration with Ninja Theory for the video game Hellblade II: Senua’s Saga. Unreleased until now, the material will be available in full for the first time on CD, vinyl and digital platforms. Heilung regard Sagas as its own branch within their musical universe, a cinematic, immersive and environmental side of the project. After a 10-day trip across Iceland’s ice caves, rivers, waterfalls, beaches and volcanoes, the three wrote far more material than the game could use, including “Læknisgaldr”. The 2CD mediabook and the 3×12” vinyl editions also include Sagas + Ambient, a companion set of eight tracks. You can preorder on their official website.