Written By Kevin McSweeney
Heilung have emerged from their hiatus with “Læknisgaldr,” their first new studio single in four years, released October 13 through Season of Mist.
The six-minute ritual composition introduces Sagas, an upcoming collection of music created in collaboration with video game developer Ninja Theory for Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II. The album arrives December 11, 2026, bringing previously unreleased recordings out of the game’s world and into Heilung’s own expanding musical mythology.
Meanwhile, the Danish-German collective is preparing its fourth full-length studio album at LAVA Studios. That project is separate from Sagas, giving listeners two distinct chapters in Heilung’s return.
Heilung’s “Læknisgaldr” Explores Ritual, Trauma and Healing
Built around repetitive percussion, atmospheric textures and ceremonial chanting, “Læknisgaldr” explores an ancient understanding of language as something capable of influencing the body and spirit.
The song draws inspiration from early medieval beliefs that naming an affliction could help identify and contain it, allowing ritual repetition to become part of a symbolic healing process.
Rather than treating this concept as a conventional song narrative, Heilung develops it through rhythm, vocal incantation and atmosphere. The composition is intended to create an immersive experience in which repeated sounds gradually transform the emotional weight of the ritual.
The accompanying music video expands that theme, following warriors who seek refuge in a forest after battle. Their journey becomes an exploration of trauma, safety and the possibility of recovery.
Heilung vocalist Kai Uwe Faust connects the video’s imagery to the body’s physiological responses to overwhelming experiences, particularly the relationship between fear, physical tension and involuntary trembling.
These ideas reflect Faust’s interpretation of trauma and ritual healing, rather than an established medical treatment demonstrated by the music.
The result is an artistic examination of what happens after violence ends, when survival gives way to the more complicated process of living with its consequences.
From Hellblade II to Sagas: Music Beyond the Game
The origins of Sagas stretch back to Heilung’s collaboration with Ninja Theory on Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, the award-winning action-adventure game that follows its protagonist through a psychologically intense journey across ninth-century Iceland.
Core members Kai Uwe Faust, Maria Franz and Christopher Juul developed material to complement the game’s haunting environment and themes.
However, the collaboration produced more music than the developers ultimately used.
A ten-day journey through Iceland helped transform those recordings into something considerably larger. Exploring ice caves, waterfalls, rivers, volcanic landscapes and remote coastal environments, the musicians found inspiration for compositions that could exist independently of the game.
Rather than allowing the unused recordings to remain hidden, Heilung developed them into Sagas, a release that captures both the creative collaboration and the landscape that helped shape it.
The collective describes the album as a distinct branch of its musical universe, emphasizing the cinematic and environmental character of the recordings.
That distinction matters. Sagas is not being presented as Heilung’s fourth studio album. It is a separate collection with its own identity, rooted in the Hellblade II collaboration.
Watch Heilung’s “Læknisgaldr” Music Video
The official video was directed by Gornoss and produced by Eudaimonia APS/Maria Franz.
Filming took place at Borre Vikingmarked and Borre National Park in Norway, along with Árdalur, Írárfoss and other Icelandic locations.
The production combines historical imagery, natural environments and ritual performance to explore the aftermath of conflict.
Sagas Arrives December 11 Through Season of Mist
Scheduled for release on December 11, 2026, Sagas contains eleven compositions with a total runtime of 40 minutes and 40 seconds.
The record brings together music associated with Heilung’s Hellblade II collaboration, including recordings that did not appear in the finished game.
Deluxe editions expand the experience with Ambient, an eight-track collection of additional atmospheric soundscapes created during the same project.
The bonus material extends the immersive nature of the original collaboration, offering more than an hour of additional music.
The release will be available in CD and multiple vinyl configurations, including deluxe gatefold editions and triple-vinyl packages featuring Ambient.
Heilung’s Fourth Studio Album Is Also Taking Shape
Alongside Sagas, Heilung has announced its return to LAVA Studios in October to begin work on its fourth full-length studio album.
The record will follow 2022’s Drif and mark the collective’s next major studio chapter following its hiatus.
Metal Lair previously reported on Heilung’s return to the studio and plans for their fourth full-length album, marking the end of the collective’s hiatus.
Since forming in 2015, Heilung have developed an unmistakable approach to what they call amplified history, combining archaic instrumentation, throat singing, ceremonial percussion and contemporary production.
Their performances have transformed that concept into elaborate live rituals, with an international audience drawn to their combination of historical inspiration, theatrical spectacle and immersive sound.
With Sagas, the collective opens a previously unheard chapter of its collaboration with Ninja Theory. The forthcoming fourth studio album promises another, although its title and release date have yet to be announced.
For now, “Læknisgaldr” provides the first glimpse of Heilung’s return, a composition concerned less with the violence of battle than with the difficult silence that follows.
Pre-Order & Pre-save
Sagas Tracklist
1. Geiteseidh
2. Slagt
3. Læknisgaldr
4. Orrustumaul
5. Seidh
6. Jøtnarhaiti
7. Sverdhasøngurin
8. Spjoutsyla
9. Sonatorrek
10. Opnun
11. Dauðimessa
Total runtime:
Ambient Tracklist
1. Strongyle
2. Ran
3. Dimmuborgir
4. Baina
5. Isshellir
6. Hvaldaudhigaldr
7. Meinbein
8. Hyttepåhyttepå
Line-up:
Kai Uwe Faust
Christopher Juul
Maria Franz
Production credits
Recorded, Mixed and Mastered at LAVA Studio
Produced, Mixed, Mastered and Engineered by Christopher Juul
Cover Art
Kai Uwe Faust
Christopher Juul
Maria Franz
Adrien Bousson
Record label: Season of Mist.
Official website: https://www.amplifiedhistory.com/
Source: Season of Mist official press release, October 13, 2026.
About The Author
Kevin McSweeney is Metal Lair’s resident scribe of the underground, eternally rummaging through the global metal scene for riffs worth your time.
As the guiding hand behind Seven Deadly Songs every Friday, he has an uncanny knack for finding the track you didn’t know you needed, usually before finishing his pint.
Equal parts loyal, kind, and quietly razor-witted, Kevin brings deep knowledge, impeccable taste, and a steady, reliable presence to Metal Lair.
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