H.I.M., CATHEDRAL, ANATHEMA, AMORPHIS Confirmed For Finland's HELLDONE FESTIVAL

H.I.M., CATHEDRAL, ANATHEMA, DIABLO, AMORPHIS, KATATONIA, BLAKE, 45 DEGREE WOMAN and SARA have been confirmed for the Helldone Festival 2006, set to take place December 29-31 at the Tavastia and Semifinal clubs in Helsinki, Finland. The running order is shaping up as follows:

Friday, December 29:

CATHEDRAL
DIABLO
BLAKE

Saturday, December 30:

AMORPHIS
ANATHEMA
45 DEGREE WOMAN

Sunday, December 31:

H.I.M.
KATATONIA
SARA

It doesn't get much darker than Helsinki in late December — and there's more than a fleeting chance that it's bloody freezing as well! Yet hundreds of people from all over the world make their way to the capital of Finland in the dead of winter. Across the ocean they travel, from sunny L.A. and Mexico City; from the suburbs of Moscow and the shores of Japan. From all over Europe they're drawn like leather- and PVC-clad moths to the lights and sounds emanating from Tavastia, the rock and roll haven of Helsinki. Or Hellsinki, as they affectionately call it.

"I've always seen it as a global congregation of the bastard sons and daughters of BLACK SABBATH," H.I.M. frontman Ville Valo muses.

It all started in the late Nineties when Helsinki's very own H.I.M. decided to pencil some R&R time into their tight touring schedule. You know, spend the holidays among friends and family. Over the years their New Year's Eve's gigs have grown into an institution — and by this we don’t mean an institution of the rigid and stuffy kind! These gigs have always been quite special as they are played in front of, that's right, friends and family. There's that vibe you simply cannot create artificially.

Last year this "gig" was turned into a bonafide three day indoor festival, Helldone, a festival as unique as they come. On two stages, Tavastia's main stage and its neighbouring "kid brother club" Semifinal's smaller one, H.I.M. and the friends they've made on the road rocked like it's the end of the world.

The first Helldone festival was a total success and only a few weeks into the New Year Tavastia's office was besieged by e-mails and phone enquiries about Helldone 2006. So now the good people of Helldone, that mysterious lot, are proud to present to you Helldone Vol. 2. A tradition built to last.

H.I.M. will traditionally start their set at midnight on New Year's Eve, preceded as always by an illuminating New Year's speech held by Tavastia's legendary manager Juhani Merimaa.

Tickets will be available on Thursday, September 28 from www.tiketti.fi. As the tickets are always voraciously coveted, a limit has been set to
one (1) per purchaser.