There are few bands on Earth to have bewitched the heavy metal scene as uniquely and emphatically as Heilung. The multinational European neo-folk collective have dropped jaws around the world thanks to their unforgettable look and stirring, richly atmospheric live shows.
Made up of core members Kai Uwe Faust, Christopher Juul and Maria Franz and backed up on stage by their famous Warrior Choir - a team of carefully picked backing vocalists and instrumentalists who add to Heilung's imposing live prowess - the band create an aural and visual feast unlike anything else in contemporary music.
Having such a fierce dedication to their art - rooted in the music, aesthetics and mythologies of medieval Northern Europe - hasn't come without its fair share of hiccups, however. Having to transport animal bone, furs and weapons around the world on a regular basis has resulted in a number of tense and/or hilarious situations, as Kai Uwe Faust and Maria Franz explain to Metal Hammer.
Recalling one particular incident in particular at an airport in Russia, Faust explains how one of the band's most fearsome-looking props almost landed him in deep trouble.
"That was scary," he exclaims. "So we're coming to Russia, and we're on the way back home...and of course it was slightly chaotic. I don't speak Russian, and we lost our translator because there were several entrances, and it was me with a case that was not mine. I think it was Chris' case. So I'm standing there, it's Heilung gear, I hand in a couple of cases, and then I suddenly see that [security] guy, getting super big eyes. He takes my suitcase aside, look around asking - I know what he wants, he wanted to know who owns this suitcase!
"So I go up there, and he opens it up, and of course in there is a sword. Hahaha! Like a full-scale, real Viking sword. And he looks at me and he's speaking Russian, and I'm like, 'I don't speak Russian, and I can't even say in Russian that I do not speak Russian.' And it ended up that he fucking loses it, you know? He's pointing at the sword and he just yells, 'Document! Document!' 'This is, like, theatre props, man! We're not intending any harm, it's all fine!' 'DOCUMENT! DOCUMENT!' Luckily, at that point, there was the translator, he was going around and then he realised, 'OK, Kai is in trouble.'"
Maria Franz had a not too dissimilar experience attempting to transport her iconic antlers through Thailand - and unfortunately, it resulted in an awkward bureaucratic situation that took some time to resolve.
"The antlers were a huge incident in Bangkok when we played there last year, because it turns out that you can bring antlers in to Thailand, but you cannot export them again!" she explains. "We had no idea about this rule, so they were stuck at the airport in Bangkok. I think they were held there for two months because all they wanted was a stamp on the paper saying, 'This equipment belongs to Heilung, and they were coming in and are meant to be taken out again', but no authority wanted to mess with this document on our behalf because they saw it as a, somehow, a legally vulnerable situation because we had not followed the rules and regulations.
"But in the end the Danish Music Society, bless them, a small organisation in Denmark, living their lives, happily supporting musicians in their country, and they're not a huge authority, but they're like, 'Yeah, sure, we'll put a stamp on this one for you guys.' And that was all they needed and they released our stuff. But yeah, going in and out of Australia and New Zealand, we have to make special applications for anything that is a part of an animal or nature, anything of wood, skin, furs, bones, any Earth materials. I mean, have you seen our show? Everything we own is made from bone and furs and skin and wood! So yeah, it's challenging."
Maria also got some funny looks when attempting to transport the band's spears through London at one point.
"Gong through customs in, I think Heathrow, I had all the spears in a sewer tube, which is the only sensible way of transporting spears apparently," she laughs. "So I'm walking with this tube on my shoulder and through the 'beep' machine, and it's full of spears, and of course you have to then explain to customs that, yes, this is sharp spears, they are weapons, but they are indeed theatre props. In Europe, they're normally more easy to talk to! "
Watch the rest of Metal Hammer's exclusive interview with Heilung below.
