HELSOTT
WILL AND THE WITCH

HELSOTT's newest album, “Will and The Witch” - mixed and mastered by J-F Dagenais (Kataklysm, Ex Deo) and featuring artwork by Felipe Machado Franco (Blind Guardian, Rhapsody, Gamma Ray), is a concept record that tells a fictional story about how Billy The Kid became the fastest gunfighter in the wild west. The band returns to its musical roots on their latest record with heavier thrash overtones and less orchestral work than their prior record, while catching listeners off-guard with new influences befitting of the album's theme. Thrash metal, power metal, and death metal all converge with acoustic campfire segments, Southern banjo and fiddle, and Native American-inspired hand drums and flutes. The end result is a record that is musically ambitious while remaining melodic, thrashy, and true to the underlying sound of HELSOTT.
Since their formation, the California-based HELSOTT – whose name means “fatal illness” in Old Norse – has paid homage to pagan cultures, mythology, and history while keeping true to their American influences. The group's unique mix of folk metal, death metal, symphonic metal, thrash, classical and rock was first unveiled to the world with the 2012 release of their debut EP “Fólkvangr.” The band soon caught the attention of audiences on a larger scale during the 2013 Paganfest North American tour, where they performed with Ensiferum, Tyr and Trollfest. That tour set the stage for the 2014 release of “Woven,” which was supported with tours alongside Arkona and Heidevolk.
In the years since the original release of “Woven,” HELSOTT signed with M-Theory Audio, released another EP (2017’s “The Healer”) and a second full-length (2018’s “Slaves and Gods”) and logged many touring miles worldwide with artists including Korpiklaani, I Am Morbid, Necrophagia, Tengger Cavalry, Ashes of Ares, Felix Martin, Arkona, Skyforger and Finsterforst. In addition, the band performed at major European festivals such as Wacken Open Air and Cernunnos Pagan Fest. “Woven” was also remixed, remastered, and re-released by M-Theory Audio in November 2020 in celebration of the group's 10th anniversary.
This year will not just see the release of HELSOTT's new album, “Will and The Witch,” but will also see the band's return to the live stage. A small number of dates have been confirmed so far, including international appearances at Germany's Dark Troll Festival 2022 and England's HRH Vikings 2022, with more to come throughout 2022.