The Southern California-based pagan death metal group Helsott has announced the initial dates of their second European tour of 2019, which will see the band join Skyforger, Finsterforst, Enisum and Khors on the Pagan Warriors Across Europe tour in October and November. The trek includes a stop at the Dark Troll Festival's 10-year anniversary celebration on October 26th in Eisleben, Germany. The initial batch of confirmed shows appears below, with additional concerts to be announced in the near future.

“We were honored and quite surprised to be invited to play the 10-year/'best of' Dark Troll Festival show in October, considering we have never played the fest before,” says Helsott vocalist Eric Dow. “Perhaps the future is being looked at from the past? This tour is going to kick so much ass! It's going to be a treat to watch and take part in. It's going to be dark, brutal, melodic, in-your-face pagan fun. We are stoked on the whole lineup but it will be a bit more special for us to share the stage with pagan metal godfathers Skyforger, who have been flying the flag since the mid '90s!”

In addition, Helsott will headline this weekend's West Coast final of the ongoing Wacken Metal Battle competition, the winner of which will represent America at Germany's annual Wacken Open Air festival's international battle-of-the-bands this summer. The show takes place at Hollywood's legendary Viper Room on May 11th.

Dow, who has co-promoted several preliminary California Wacken Metal Battle shows in recent weeks, says he's looking forward to the event. “I have been extremely proud to bring these Wacken Metal Battles to California and they have been very impressive to watch,” he says. “We love The Viper Room, so when my L.A. partner, Andrew Bansal at Metal Assault, suggested we guest headline the California final, it was a no-brainer to say yes.”

Helsott recently completed a successful West Coast tour with Ashes Of Ares, their second U.S. tour in support of their latest album Slaves And Gods. Last fall, the group celebrated the album's release with a number of shows alongside Korpiklaani and Arkona. The vocalists of the latter band, Masha Scream and Lazar, were among a number of guest musicians who appeared on the album, joining the likes of Dr. Leif Kjonnsfleis (TrollfesT), Trollmannen (TrollfesT), Damna (Elvenking), Lethien (Elvenking), Dom Crey (Equilibrium, Nothgard) and Kevin Storm.

Earlier this year, Helsott crossed the pond to perform at Germany's Wacken Winter Nights, where they shared the stage with a number of prominent pagan and folk metal acts, and the 11th annual Cernunnos Pagan Festival, which took place in suburban Paris. The shows marked the group's first European dates since a tour with I Am Morbid and Necrophagia in 2017.

Dates:

May
11 – Los Angeles, CA – Viper Room

October
25 – Eindhoven, Netherlands – Dynamo
26 – Eisleben, Germany – Wiesenhaus 
27 – Ostiava, Czech Republic – Banak Music Club
28 – Brno, Czech Republic – Melodka
31 – St. Maurice, Switzerland – Manoir Pub