Since forming seven 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 Pagan Fest North American tour, where they performed with Ensiferum, Tyr and Trollfest. The group built further momentum the following year with the release of their debut album, Woven (produced by Roy Z (Sepultura, Helloween)), behind which they toured with Heidevolk and Arkona.
Helsott now returns with The Healer, a five-song EP recorded in part at California’s Trench Studios (Intronaut, Abysmal Dawn) and mixed and mastered by J-F Dagenais (Kataklysm, Ex Deo). The release spawned from the band’s successful crowd-sourcing campaign to fund the recording of Woven, when they offered to write a song about a fan who pledged a certain amount. A patron named Doc – who was indeed a doctor – took them up on their offer, and the band liked the final result so much that they decided to write and record additional new songs (plus a cover of Iron Butterfly’s “Unconscious Power”) to be issued in conjunction.
1. The Healer
2. Astralive
3. The Tavern’s Tale
4. Unconscious Power
5. Epic Battle