Dow plays at Helsinki Metal Festival

Eric Dow has lived in Menifee since moving from Fallbrook when he was in high school. Dow is the vocalist for the heavy metal band Helsott, and on Aug. 10 he was in Finland playing at the Helsinki Metal Festival.

"We had the time of our lives," Dow said.

Part of Dow's childhood was with a Moreno Valley residence. The family moved to Fallbrook and he attended Live Oak Elementary School and Potter Junior High School. After his freshman year at Fallbrook High School, he became a Menifee resident and a Paloma Valley High School student. Dow graduated from Paloma Valley High School in 2000.

Dow founded Helsott in 2010. The other four members all live in San Diego County. Pete Truax and Zach Simsay are the guitarists for Helsott; Alex Simsay is the drummer, and Alonso Larios is the bassist.

The Wacken Open Air heavy metal festival in Germany includes local bands who qualify for the metal festival through local and national contests. Dow has been the United States promoter for the Wacken metal festival since 2017. Toni Torronen is the Finland promoter of the Wacken Metal Festival.

Torronen is also the promoter of the Helsinki Metal Festival. In September 2023, he invited Helsott to perform at this year's two-day concert.

"In his words, it was really cool to have someone different there," Dow said.

This year's Helsinki Metal Festival was held Aug. 9-10. "I liked how it wasn't too big of a festival," Dow said.

Approximately 15,000 fans attended the Helsinki Metal Festival. "It was really easy to get everywhere," Dow said. "It's just a nice cool intimate festival, but they had top-notch bands."

Helsott was given 45 minutes for the band's Aug. 10 performance. The California musicians performed several songs including two which are approximately a dozen minutes long apiece.

Dow expressed his gratitude to Torronen for the festival personnel taking care of the Helsott members and treating them well when they were in Helsinki. "We hope Helsinki keeps growing, and we highly recommend the festival to anyone who likes heavy music," Dow said.