The RMR crew’s lately been to Cemican‘s idea of the Yucatan jungle. A rhythmically charged version of fetid metal and folk vibes in wild disarray. But the piece’s still alluring enough, sez I. The terrible war drums are present all over, after all. And that is always a good thing. However, Waldgeflüster‘s excursions into folky realms and back to metal mama didn’t quite sit too well with the Review Desk. A weird, helter-skelter production on a giant errand to pagan lands, which led to a mixed experience.
So, it’s time to make a point and descend into the murky mists of trve ‘n’ raw Pagan Folk. A dance-around-the-fire moment that should be as rhythmically charged as it should be outstanding. A cathartic moment of eternally valid music, showing us that true archaic pagan sounds can still guide us to Valhalla without crashing and burning just South of Valgrind. Let’s invoke something, shall we?
Danheim, the brainchild of one Reidar Schæfer Olsen, just sent us Heimferd.1 At first, the RMR crew was pretty worried that some Wardruna-style concoction would take it away on this one. Complete with endless Lindy-Fay Hella-esque wailings. But fear naught, no Lindy here this time. Heimferd is predominantly pure rhythm. Jam-packed with full-throated shamatic humming and thrumming, abundant use of mighty wardrums, and any old Viking instrument mankind has discovered to date.
In other words, you get a lot of Heilung-esque mileage2 out of Heimferd. But without Maria Franz’s angelic voice and the epic fight scenes on stage. Together with influences from the aforementioned Wardruna3, the end result is a powerfully compelling piece of archaic music. And all that electronically-enhanced droning, humming, drumming, and strumming indeed talks to your inner self better than any comparable record we heard so far ever did. These are tribal chants delivered with ancient conviction and an almost overbearing power.
This set of relatively similar yet densely written tracks, driven by an endless parade of rhythmic exercises, finally gets you that antediluvian feeling of wanton connection to godly realms unreachable from Midgard here. So, if that was the ultimate goal of Danheim, then – yes – the mission is ultimately accomplished. And you almost feel that fleeting glimpse of a better world the Norse may have gotten from endless rituals, rife with killings and pretty sturdy tradition.
Yet, after a while, the infamous repetition bug strikes a tad too hard. The production is fine and every instrument, wail, or wistful hum gets its due place. But oftentimes one can almost replace the underlying rumbling from one song to another. Another bone of contention is the stark focus on rhythmic instruments only. Meaning, anything you can hit with a stick gets priority on Heimferd, when all that banging and clanging is in dire need of some refining. Thus, why aren’t there more melodic instruments like the magic flute? That would immediately get a significant boost to an offering with a somewhat bland aftertaste.
Ultimately, Heimferd didn’t dazzle us the way we’d expect it from a record of this calibre. In a way, the record sounds like the backbone of one of the Pagan Folk and Pagan Metal pieces we covered before. But without the melodies and harmonies, the dreamy vocals, and the use of a myriad of archaic instruments to make that ancient magick come to life. And there are some examples of better melodics on this record, too. Don’t believe me? The subdued, minimalistic Yggdrasil II will serve well to drive this point home.
So, instead of finding more melodics in the pagan universe, you get a professionally astute version of too much Heilung without the warriors.4 A refined version of ritualistic, tribal musings that generate endless (and recurring) visions of shamans and druids leading dances around a mighty roaring fire. And whilst the craftsmanship is outstanding and this record landed a good rating, the RMR crew here was left wanting nonetheless.
Record Rating: 6/10 | Label: Season of Mist | Web: Official Band Site5
Release Date: 31 October 2025