The PAGAN MUSIC LIST is an attempt to create a comprehensive list of Pagan, Heathen, Esoteric, Animist, and related music that we listen to and love. We include embedded YouTube, Soundcloud, or Bandcamp links when possible for each artist.

Previous collections in this series have been archived here, and new collections of reviews will be posted monthly (supporters get early access to new collections—find out more here).

We also provide a constantly updated index of artists that we have reviewed by name and genre.

And if you are a Spotify listener, you can click on the embedded player to listen to the full updated playlist!

Collection 13: Heilung, Annwn, Vas

Heilung

Heathen/Nordic, Metal, Ambient

Recommended Album: Futha

Artist Website: https://heilung.bandcamp.com/ or https://www.season-of-mist.com/bands/heilung/

Heilung is a fascinating band that is equal parts music and sacred ritual.

Formed in 2014, Heilung occupies a peculiar place in music whose only cognate I can think of is that of the Grateful Dead. Though their music is absolutely nothing similar, the kind of cult following Heilung has gathered is quite comparable.

Like that other band, the music of Heilung isn’t exactly the point. Rather, it’s the experience, a sense of connection to other fans, the musicians, and a kind of spiritual experience. But rather than drugs and free love, Heilung offers connection to ancient animism.

Heilung’s name means ‘healing,’ and though they have offered many different explanations for why they chose this name, a First Nations friend of mine, who is a deep fan of theirs, called it “ancestral healing.”

Though you can hear much of this in their music, it is in their performances that you can best see this ritualistic intention to draw listeners back to something ancient and primal. As sing Maria Franz said in an interview for Metal Hammer:

we don’t have much ritual stuff going on in the west. We’re not like the Sufi religion, where they stand in a circle and just sing and dance for hours. They have that ability to create this free space, to get those emotions out there and get in contact with yourself. So that’s something I want to create from a stage perspective, and do that together with the audience.

That being said, however, their music stands very well on its own and displays this same ritual intent. For example the song Traust, which is a blessing song (taken for several sources, including two Icelandic magical works). The refrain of the chorus, translated into English, is:

I wash off the hatred of my enemies and the theft and anger of rich men.

One of my favorite songs from them is the runic song Norupo:

Annwn

Traditional/Medieval

Recommended Album: Aeon

Artist Website: https://www.annwn-music.de/8-0-Home.html

Annwn is a gorgeous little band who records and performs incredibly simple yet enchanting renditions of medieval and traditional European songs. In fact, many of their versions are my favorites of quite a few such renditions.

For instance, their version the old troubador/madrigal love song, Ay Linda Amiga, is really the best I’ve ever heard. The lyrics

Ay, linda amiga que no vuelvo a verte
Cuerpo garrido que me llevas la muerte
No hay amor sin pena, pena sin dolor

Ni dolor tan agudo como el del amor

Levanté me madre al salir el sol

Fui por los campos verdes a buscar mi amor

Oh, beautiful beloved who I will never see again,
Exquisite body that brings me death.

No love without pain,
Nor pain without grief,
Nor pain so sharp as that of love.

Get me up, mother, when the sun rises.
I went throughout the green fields
Looking for my love.

Also of note is their version of Vänner Och Fränder, which is slightly better than my other favorite version by Garmarna.

VAS

MIDDLE EASTERN, ELECTRO

Recommended Album: Feast of Silence

Artist Website: None Found

Vas was an amazing and tragically short-lived musical project by Persian singer Azam Ali and the drummer Greg Ellis.

Active between 1996 to 2004, Vas released four really amazing albums before breaking up. Azam Ali went on to become even more popular, while Greg Ellis disappeared completely from public view, instead becoming a percussionist for many film scores.

Their best album is their final one, Feast of Silence, featuring several songs blending ancient texts and lyrics from a made-up language, as in their song Mandara:

Also of note is their rendition of the traditional Bulgarian song, Izgrejala.

The Pagan Music List 13: Heilung, Annwn, Vas