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Biography:
Helldorado was formed in the spring of
2001 in Stavanger, Norway. Most of the members had been playing in the
local band The Tramps for several years, and had considerable live and
studio experience with that band.
They where looking for a much darker and broader musical landscape than
they could find in The Tramps, and got together playing punked up surf
covers with their new band Helldorado. After a while the band and their
sound started to develop. They started adding their own songs to the
set, and after a couple of gigs the rumours about the band was flying
around town. In the fall of 2002 they entered the Stavanger traditional
ZOOM week at legendary local rock club Checkpoint Charlie (a full week
of local bands playing & battling for a spot at the ZOOM national finals
in Oslo). Helldorado won the Stavanger leg, went to the final in Oslo
and won there as well. The band was awarded a full Norwegian tour + a
couple of gigs in the UK and Germany (Popkomm in Cologne).
In November 2002, shortly after winning the national ZOOM finale they
released their first mini album Lost Highway at the local label CCAP.
The album received stunning reviews in the Norwegian music press
(Dagbladet; “..six strong, minor tuned song”s, VG; “Dusty and dramatic”,
Stavanger Aftenblad; “Helldorado is a mescaline cactus. The best
Norwegian rockband today”, Rogalands Avis; “Americana to kill for”,
Nordlys;” This is the best CD I have heard in a long, long time” etc)
After they finished the extensive ZOOM tour, they spent considerable
time in the studio in the summer of 2003. They developed a more
aggressive, heavier and minor based edge. The fall was spent touring and
perfecting their skills and their live sound In February 2004 Helldorado
finally released their long awaited debut album Directors Cut in
Scandinavia
"HELLDORADO - Director's Cut ”This is an aptly named album by this
excellent Norwegian outfit - their echoey, gothic take on rock'n'roll
drips atmosphere and attitude, and would be perfect soundtracking some
Quentin Tarantino flick. Blood Shack's clattering tale of lust and
vampirism sets the mood, and the other 11 tracks are filled with epic
quantities of murder, deceit, guts, gore, hellfire and brimstone, all of
it leavened with a dark, twisted sense of humour. There's also more than
a hint of Nick Cave in Dag S Vagle's songs and voice, and in a fair and
just world, Helldorado would find similar amounts of fawning press
coverage and sales. Some chance." (The Belfast Telegraph)
After Directors Cuts release in Europe by Glitterhouse in October 2004,
both critics and music lovers all over the continent are discovering the
band.
Glitterhouse UK says this about the Directors Cut album: “Hellfire seems
to be burning in each of their songs, be it the mighty, but balladesque
tracks like "Diesel & Bones", the hard-rocking tracks like "Payrolled"
or "Killer on the Highway" or the plain desert-rock anthems, such as the
masterful "Blood Shack", there can be no doubt, Helldorado rocks! Apart
from that, they are looking way cool (as if they just escaped the
lunatics' asylum), and their live shows are legendary. Their musical
roots are pretty clear: Gun Club, 16 Horsepower, Morricone, Chris Isaak
and/or The Cramps, obviously without being copy cats of the
aforementioned, they add something very specific to their music. It may
be their ability to write fantastic tunes, hooklines that will make you
shiver, and their ability to keep the quality of their songs, as diverse
as they may be up on the highest level throughout the 11 tracks of
"Director's Cut"”
The Ballad Of Nora Lee is the third release from the Norwegian quartet.
The album shows a band that is still deeply fascinated and inspired by
American music and subculture, combining elements from different genres
but still managing to sound unmistakably like Helldorado. These guys are
no copycats, they mean it man! They pick from the best and make it their
own. Mighty ballads, stompin´rockers, desert-rock anthems, Mexican
trumpets, spooky strings and rocking attitude, Helldorado´s got it all.
Since their last album, Directors Cut, the band has taken a step closer
to the Mexican border, but the band still evokes the sensation of a
burning sun on your neck, crunched sand between your teeth, a salty
taste on your lips, a shaky finger on the trigger of a Colt 45, circling
vultures silhouetted against a blue-white sky, a double whiskey on an
empty stomach, and the smell of bacon, beans, gunpowder, leather &
sweat.
The Ballad Of Nora Lee also saw the band having a surprise hit in Turkey
with the album track “The Drinking Song”. The track was playlisted by
Radio Eksen and quickly attracted a lot of attention. Helldorado has
done four sold out tours of Turkey, been covered extensively in Turkish
media and gained a new level of popularity when an adapted version of
Drinking Song became the official song of the Turkish National Football
Team.
Helldorado is a fantastic live band and their gigs are legendary.
Combine their abilities as a live band with their natural coolness and a
bunch of rocking tunes that other bands would kill for, and you have a
success in the making. So get into your 65 Chevy, a few bottles of
Whiskey, grab some good looking, mini-skirts wearing girls and drive
through the night, waiting for what will happen. The perfect soundtrack
is already there!
*Discography
*Lost Highway (minialbum) - 2002
Directors Cut - 2004
The Ballad Of Nora Lee – 2005
Sinful Soul – 2009
http://www.myspace.com/officialhelldorado |
