Articles by "Helsott"
HELSOTT ANNOUNCE NEW MEMBERS, NEW ALBUM, AND TOUR DATES
The Southern California-based pagan metal group HELSOTT has begun recording their second full-length album, which will be released this fall. It will serve as the follow-up to the band's M-Theory Audio debut, last year's acclaimed "The Healer" EP, which the group supported with a European tour alongside I Am Morbid and Necrophagia, and numerous regional performances alongside the likes of Dark Tranquillity, SepticFlesh and Evergrey.
HELSOTT's new album will feature two new members, as joining vocalist Eric Dow and drummer Cooper Dustman are guitarist Mark Dow, who appeared on the group's 2014 full-length debut "Woven," and bassist Doc "The Healer" Beaulieu, a longtime fan of the band who helped to make "The Healer" EP a reality.
Says Dustman, "We are stoked to have Mark back in the band, as he is the original songwriter of many HELSOTT tunes and will continue helping us progress as writers. As for Doc, this is a cool story – he started as a crowd-funder in 2014, and we found out that he is a real doctor in Newberry, Michigan. We then wrote the song "The Healer" for him as part of the crowdfunding perk, which ended up being the title track of our last EP. From there, he toured with us as crew and we became great friends. Now he is joining the band as our bass player. Don't knock crowdfunding to me!"
Vocalist Dow notes that the group's new album cranks up the volume on their pagan-influenced brand of melodic death. "I think it is going to be a very strong album, as it has all of the old HELSOTT elements that fans have come to expect, but we also tread a heavier and darker path on this new adventure," he says. "This album is definitely going to represent Pagan Metal from around the world!"
More information on HELSOTT's new album will be revealed in the coming months. In other band news, the group recently signed with European management company/booking agency The Flaming Arts. "We are thrilled to be working with The Flaming Arts," says Eric Dow. "They booked us for our first European tour, so it just feels natural to continue working together. I feel like this partnership will bring forth great things for the band."
Adds TFA's Jon Knight, "We are pleased to announce pagan metallers HELSOTT to our roster today. We are planning a number of American tours and their second run in Europe at the moment, so stay tuned for more updates!"
HELSOTT will perform two-high profile shows in San Diego in the coming weeks – a gig alongside former Paganfest tour mates Tyr on May 21, and another with Insomnium on June 7. The group has also been confirmed as the headliner of the fourth-annual Maryland Folk Metal Fest on August 18. At these shows, the band will be joined by guitarist Rafael Ortega of M-Theory Audio label mates Sicocis.
Since forming eight years ago, HELSOTT – whose name means "fatal illness" in Old Norse – has paid homage to pagan cultures and mythologies while keeping true to their American influences. The group's unique mix of folk metal, death metal, symphonic metal, thrash, classical and rock first caught the attention of audiences on a large scale during the 2013 Paganfest North American tour, where they performed with Ensiferum, Tyr and Trollfest. The group built further momentum the following year via their debut full-length, "Woven," behind which they toured alongside Arkona and Heidevolk.
Check out their list of tour dates below, and their new album coming soon!
TOUR DATES:
5/21 San Diego, CA – Brick By Brick w/ Tyr, Orphaned Land
6/7 San Diego, CA – Brick By Brick w/ Insomnium, Oceans of Slumber
8/18 Baltimore, MD – Maryland Folk Metal Fest IV
Helsott's Eric Talks of the Healer!
Uniqueness comes in all shapes and sizes for music, in the case for Helsott, they have taken the likes of heavy, emotional, and melodic to create a style that is truly their own. Thus it would lead them to write and record for their latest and newest EP "The Healer". Frontman vocalist and lyricist Eric Dow, discusses the EP, the band's influences, writing tactics, and how the writing process is coming along for their next album, as well as plenty of touring plans ahead.
1. What role do you play in the band?
Eric: I am the lead singer and I write the lyrics for the band.
2. How did you get your band name HELSOTT?
Eric: We wanted a name that fit our pagan death metal theme, and it definitely had to fit our sound. Helsótt means "Fatal Illness" in Old-Norse so we feel like that is a perfect representation of our band.
3. What has influenced your sound and style?
Eric: We draw influences from many, many different things like... history, life experiences, classical music, modern and classic heavy metal, astrology, and philosophy to name a few.
4.What are your songs about? (What specific themes do they cover?)
Eric: Love, War, Religion, History, Fable's, Mythology, all wrapped up and delivered through the pagan's perspective.
5. Do you write your own songs? (Discuss the songwriting process in detail.)
Eric: Yes we do. We will do the occasional cover song like "Unconscious Power" on "The Healer" EP but we will make it our own. We don't have a set process as to how the songs are written. Sometimes we write as a group but most of the time we write on our own. Usually the lyrics or guitar come first and then we write drums and bass then the keyboard arrangements.
6. How do you describe your music to people?Eric: Unique, heavy, emotional, melodic... Someone once told me we sound as though you put Blind Guardian, Therion, and Amon Amarth in a blender and we spewed out. I can get on board with that description.
7. If you had to pick one song of yours, to show someone to hear, which would it be and why?
Eric: Right now I would say "The Healer". It sounds killer and definitely represents what this band is about. I usually answer that question with the song "Helsótt" off of the "Woven" album. If you listen to that song it has every element that I described earlier. But we move forward, as does everyone else, and I am very proud of how "The Healer" turned out. So, that would be the song I would push on people.
8. What's your take on "The Healer" as a whole?
Eric: Great EP! I would buy it!
9. What is the concept behind "The Healer" and how did the idea come about?
Eric: "The Healer" is the medicine man for the Vandal tribes. This song and "Epic Battle" (also, off of the EP) tie into the "Vandal's Divide" and "Cessation" story line, which is the same story just told through different perspectives. The Healer is forced to witness the civil war of his Vandal tribes the Siling's and Asding's. Feeling like he failed the God's in his task to look after the tribes wellness his heart erupts with pain and he vanishes into the astral world. Thus the "death" of the healer in this realm. The idea came about after we finished our first crowd-fund campaign back in 2014. One of the perks for the campaign was to write a song for the person who contributed to that perk. Our now great friend Michael Beaulieu, purchased the perk so we had to write a song for him. In getting to know him, we found out he was a doctor who ran a hospital in a small town in the upper-peninsula of Michigan. I drew inspiration from the fact that he was a doctor, and wrote "The Healer" as a tribute to all doctor's. We ended up liking the song so much that we worked it into the "Vandal's Divide" story-line and themed the EP around it.
10. What song would you say is your favorite off this EP?Eric: It's a tie between "The Healer" and "Astralive".
11. What can fans expect from this new EP?
Eric: One Hel of an epic little EP. They can also expect us to be playing all of these songs live.
12. How about the rest of this year, what can we expect to see from HELSOTT?
Eric: We are working on getting a couple of tours in this year as well as finishing up the writing and recording process for the next full length album due next year via M-Theory Audio.