Swedish Helltrain was founded in 2002 by Pierre Törnkvist on vocals & bass (Everdawn, Scheitan, Devils Force), Oscar Karlsson on drums (Raised Fist, Defleshed, Gates of Ishtar) & Patrik Törnkvist on guitar (The Moaning, Everdawn, Battlelust). The trio recorded a demo with three songs and quickly gained attention for their original sound where a mix where previous musical experiences in heavier genres such as death, thrash & black metal meet arrangements and sound from rock n roll & punk. Their demo was infact only sent in to one record company, namely Nuclear Blast who chose to contract Helltrain immediately.
The debut album “Route 666” was recorded in the hometown of Luleå and later mixed in Studio Dug Out by Daniel Bergstrand, known from productions with In Flames, Soilwork, Meshuggah & Behemoth. The album was released on CD in 2004 by Nuclear Blast in Europe and has since been licensed 3 times in the USA, Poland and Russia. For the US release, Pierre in the band was personally called up on the phone by vocalist Jimmy Pop of Bloodhound Gang, who stumbled across Helltrain on the now retired music site MySpace. Jimmy Pop then released the record through his label, the Jimmy Franks Recording Company and practically this meant that Universal Music released and distributed in the US.
The title track “Route 666” appeared on Bam Margera’s (Jackass) own TV series “Viva La Bands” and also on a smaller compilation album released by MTV with only 4 bands: Helltrain, HIM, Rammstein & Bloodhound Gang.
Now to celebrate that it is 20 years since “Route 666” was released, the record is finally being released on vinyl for the first time by label Discouraged Records (Umeå, Sweden) in a very limited edition of 300 copies.
Pre-order start November 22 and it is set for release on December 6th.
https://www.
Helltrain discography
2004 “Route 666” (CD album/Nuclear Blast(EU) & Irond Records(RUS))
2006 “Route 666” (CD album/Jimmy Franks Recording Company(USA))
2008 “Rock n roll devil” (CD album/Universal Music)
2009 “Route 666” (CD album/Metal Mind(POL))
2012 “Death is coming” (CD album/TPL Records)
2018 “Wolfnight” (digital single/own release)
2018 “On your knees” (digital single/own release)
2021 “Alive” (digital ep, own release)
2023 “Mischief” (digital single, own release)
2024 “Route 666” (LP album/Discouraged Records)
Helltrain Line Up 2024:
Pierre Törnkvist: Vocals
Patrik Törnkvist: Guitar
Mikael Sandorf: Guitar (Gates of Ishtar, Duskfall, ex-Deathbound)
Markus Parkkila: Bass (Devils Force, Gates of Ishtar)
Fredrik Andersson: Drums (Gates of Ishtar, ex-Duskfall)
For more information and interviews, please contact:
Discouraged Records, Kristoffer Bäckström
kristoffer@discouragedrecords.
Helltrain, Pierre Törnkvist
pierre@helltrain.net
Follow Helltrain:
https://www.facebook.com/
https://instagram.com/
https://helltrain.bandcamp.
https://open.spotify.com/
https://www.helltrain.net
Follow Discouraged Records:
https://www.
https://www.facebook.com/
https://www.instagram.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@
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