Traditional black metal fans always hate me for saying this, but not all Christians suck,” jokes Kai Uwe Faust, the shamanic vocalist of Heilung. “The core of it all is loving your neighbour.”
Kai is an animalistic, mysterious creature covered in fur and bones, whose grunts and chants bring Heilung’s pagan folk metal to life. Seeing him go wild onstage in a trance-like state is impressive – and slightly intimidating. Talking to him is a different experience, though; he’s all smiles and jokes while talking about being a tattoo artist, lyricist and musician, but also remembering a time when his belief system and worldviews were the exact opposite of the free-spirited life he’s leading now.
He grew up in a conservative, Bible-abiding evangelical family in rural Western Germany. Early on, he learned the importance of rituals such as prayers and church visits, but also strict rules such as not watching TV.
“When I was a kid, I used to spend endless amounts of time in the huge, ancient forests of my home,” he recalls during a video chat from his home in
