Photo Credit:
Mattias Flink-Holmstrand Design

Unleashing The Final Element with Veonity

Veonity is a power metal force from Sweden whose stunning legacy has been rising since their 2013 inception. Now featuring their new vocalist Isak Stenvall who was formerly within the ranks of Lancer, Veonity has just unleashed The Final Element upon the worldwide metal masses via Scarlet Records. Fans of classic acts such as Gamma Ray and HammerFall will absolutely thrill within the powerhouse reveries found within The Final Element.  Highwire Daze recently interviewed Isak Stenvall to find out more about joining forces with the almighty Veonity, the compelling songs found within the realm of The Final Element, looking back on his time spent with Lancer, metal ostriches, and a whole lot more…

You actually did additional vocals for a song on Veonity’s first album A Gladiator’s Tale in 2015. Nearly 10 years later, you are now the lead vocalist of Veonity. What made you decide to join the band now?
I’ve known the guys in the band for a lot of years. Me and Anders had a band together like 20 years ago. I met Samuel a year after that, and we started to write power metal, and started to create a power metal band. And then I moved away from our hometown, and I started a band called Lancer, which is a Swedish heavy metal band. And they started Veonity. Actually, if I had stayed in Vänersborg, our hometown, I probably would have been a member since the birth of the band. Since our story together goes way back, when they called me, it felt very natural to join the band.

Have you had a chance to perform live with Veonity yet?
Yeah, we had a festival in our hometown in June – that was the first time we played live.

You have a festival coming up next year – Warriors of Steel in Norway. What are you looking forward to the most about that show?
Actually, just playing power metal. It’s a festival with only power metal acts, so that will be really fun. And the location of the venue – it’s in a city that’s very beautiful. Norway is almost like New Zealand with all the mountains. I’m really looking forward to the show and to visit Norway. And of course, Fabio Lione will be playing at the festival, and he’s like a childhood hero for me – so I hope I could get a chat with him.

Let’s talk about The Final Element. Is there any overall story or concept behind that album title?
Well, we wanted to call it The Fifth Element, because it’s a story of a guy who collects all of the elements – and in the end he needs to sacrifice himself to become The Fifth Element. But we thought we should not call it that because people will just think about the movie The Fifth Element – so it was easier to call it something else. The songs were already recorded – we had one song called The Fifth Element – and in the opening track I’m whispering “…to find The Fifth Element.” So that’s the name that we thought till the end would be the title of the album. But then we changed it to get less confusion towards the movie The Fifth Element.

Artwork by Alvaro Valverde/AV Art Ilustracion

Let’s talk about a few of the songs from The Final Element and what they mean to you. Riders Of The Revolution – tell me about that song and what it means to you.
The song is kind of slow paced – it’s very much rooted in heavy metal groove and very old school sounding. We grew up going to the concerts and listening to HammerFall in the beginning, when you could catch them at a really small venue in Gothenburg. And I think this song was like, “Let’s write a late 90’s HammerFall song.” So that was the start. And I think that the first demo Anders sent us was named “HammerFall” or something like that. (Laughter). So, it’s very similar to the late 90’s, early 2000 sound that was going on here in Sweden back then.

And the lyrical theme – the guy in the story – he hears voices of The Four Horsemen – who are the Riders of the Revolution. I’ve written all of the lyrics on this album, and it’s like a parallel dimension to my reality. Like I am the hero and Veonity are the four horsemen who are with me. Come join the fight! Come join the fight for power metal and heavy metal! So yeah, it has some reality vibes, even though it’s a fantasy album.

Let’s talk about Carry On and the inspiration behind that.
Musically, it’s a fast power metal song – very much influenced by Gamma Ray, Edguy, and that type of music. The same thing here – this was the music – we were like teenagers when Gamma Ray and Edguy were coming to Sweden. We and all my friends went to Gothenburg to see them live. It was like a heavy metal crusade here in Sweden. All my friends were into heavy metal. And Carry On was like a tribute to the past – to turn back the clock and turn back the time to those golden years. So that was the theme and inspiration behind that song – to carry on the metal torch.

Looking back on your albums with Lancer, what do you think of them now in retrospect?
I’m quite proud of the albums. When we recorded the first Lancer album. I was very young. I think it’s a cool album – the production is not what you could hope for, but it’s a nice album – good songs. The second album – Second Storm – it’s one of my proudest moments. I think it’s a great album. I’m very proud of how all the songs came out. And the third album Mastery – we had just signed a deal with Nuclear Blast – and we had very much pressure on the band – not from the record company, but on us in the band. It’s like this is the chance, we must force an album that is unique. And I think it’s not the best Lancer album. I think we worked under too much pressure, and the joy in the songwriting wasn’t present at that time. I would not say that Mastery is our best album. I would like to say that Second Storm is my proudest moment with that band.

I interviewed Lancer in 2015 via email for Second Storm, and it was Fredrik Kelemen who answered the questions. One thing that really struck me was that there was a metal ostrich on the cover. Where did the ostrich come from?
(Laughs) Well, for our first demo – I’m an artist by myself – so I drew a really crude dragon bird with a cool lady riding upon it. And when I showed it to my friends, they laughed and said it looks like an ostrich. And then I got the idea to just remove the lady, keep the ostrich, and work with that ostrich as the mascot.

It’s actually looks really cool…
Yeah, it’s a weird thing that people like to talk about.

Do you still keep in touch with any of the members of Lancer to this day?
Yeah – actually I wrote with Fredrik the other day, because Maiden is coming to Stockholm in June, and we were thinking about going there together. They are still friends of mine, so no hard feelings.

Would Lancer and Veonity ever want to do a show together, or has that already happened?
Actually we played a rock boat together. It was Dragonforce, Veonity, Lancer, and others – it was a power metal cruise Lancer and Veonity did together. And we’ve done other shows together as well.

Are you currently involved with any other projects outside of Veonity?
No – actually I got a lot of requests when I left Lancer, but I did not feel it was the right thing to do. But when Veonity called me, I felt right away that “This is it!” This will be fun, and this will be a really good album.

Would Veonity like to play here in the States in support of the new album – and have you ever been here with Lancer?
No, haven’t been there in the States. Prog Power is a festival that is on my bucket list. I would love to go to Prog Power and play there. And also, I haven’t been to the States, but American Culture is very big in Europe. The USA is like a fantasy country for us, because all of the movies and the music culture comes from America. I grew up in the late 80’s and 90’s and watched all of the classic American movies. It’s like a fantasy country – you can’t believe it actually exists until you are in the States

Do you have any messages for metal fans who are reading this right now?
Please keep supporting small bands. Keep spreading the word of heavy metal – and stay true to yourself.

Veonity is:
Isak Stenvall – vocals
Samuel Lundström – guitar
Anders Sköld – guitar
Kristoffer Lidre – bass
Joel Kollberg – drums

(Interview by Ken Morton)

Veonity on Instagram