On the occasion of the release of their third album, “Heading Northe”, we talked to Yenz Leonhardt, bass player of STORMWARRIOR, about this new work, the future plans of the band and many other things.
HOM. First of all, from Hall Of Metal we want to congratulate you for this third album "Heading Northe", and tell you that it liked us a lot. Let's go with the questions.
Pleased to meet you. Great to hear that you enjoyed the album.
HOM. Tell us about the beginning of the band, how did the idea of creating Stormwarrior come up? How did Kai Hansen meet you?
Stormwarrior was formed back in 1998 by Lars Ramcke and the former drummer André Schuhmann, who's now the drummer of Dark Age. The original idea was to build on the metal tradition of the early 80's and generally to raise hell in the metal underground. After the two demos "Metal Victory" (1999) and "Barbaric Steel" (2000) and two 7" singles "Possesed By Metal" and "Spikes And Leather" (2002), Stormwarrior were ready to record a full length album. Kai Hansen is a long standing friend of the band. After meeting Lars in Headbanger's Ballroom in Hamburg and hearing "Defenders Of Metal" from the first SW demo, he spontaneously announced that he would produce the first Stormwarrior album, and he actually made good on that promise when he and Dirk Schlächter did the debut album in 2002. I guess the material reminded him of the energy in the old Helloween days.
HOM. Are you aware of the fact that your speed/heavy metal is compared with "Walls Of Jericho" of Helloween? Do you think this is a positive or a negative factor?
Well, that's only natural. When you grow up with The old Hamburg School of Metal like the old Helloween and Running Wild stuff, Stormwarrior originally started out building on that tradition. I come from Copenhagen in Denmark, which is a somewhat different metal scene, we tend to look to the UK and US for inspiration, but I've really learned to appreciate the German metal scene as well. We played some festivals with Kai Hansen over the last couple of years. In 2007 we did the Magic Circle Festival and Wacken Open Air, starting out with a full throttle Stormwarrior set with Kai joining us for the last half of the show, where we played some of the old material from the "Walls Of Jericho" era, which was a lot of fun for everybody involved. The full SW set from the W.O.A. show will be released on DVD later this year. So, of course there's a strong Stormwarrior/Kai Hansen connection, which has helped the band a lot in the past. But in the end, you have to walk the path alone, and with "Heading Northe" we've done just that.
HOM. Nowadays there are a lot of power metal bands coming out from Germany. How did you decide to focus on a more traditional and less popular style such us speed metal?
We don't really care about trends or categories. We take the steps that feel right to ourselves and don't try to please anybody else. For "Heading Northe" we wanted to broaden the variety of styles and have been working a lot on creating a strong atmosphere matching the lyrical themes, so we've taken Stormwarrior another couple of steps away from being easy to categorize.
HOM. It is surprising that a band with only two albums releases a live one, why was that and how were the sales?
When Stormwarrior joined Gamma Ray on tour in Japan, the possibility to record the shows was simply there, so why not release the material? It was obvious to everyone that "At Foreign Shores" wasn't destined to become a big selling album, but the tour was an important part of the SW evolution, so it's cool thing for us to have that documented.
HOM. We know that Kai Hansen collaborated in your previous studio album. How was the experience of working with a legend like him? Has he participated in "Heading Northe" also?
Kai Hansen is a very cool person, who knows what he wants and knows how to get it. This time around, "Heading Northe" was recorded in our own "Thunderhall Studio" without any helping hand from outside the band. The album was mixed by Piet Sielck, with whom I also play in Savage Circus & Iron Savior, and he really did an excellent job. We went to Denmark to have the album mastered by another longstanding friend, Tommy Hansen, who incidentally produced the "Keeper I & II" albums with Helloween.
HOM. What do you base on to write such epic and heavy lyrics?
Hailing from Denmark, I find it fascinating to dive into old nordic lore, tapping the vein and retrieve the power of my ancestors. Lars has always been studying Scandinavian History and languages, so we exchange a lot of books and movies on the subjects we write about. One of our favourite themes is of course the confrontation between Christianity, and the alleged heathens in Scandinavia around 1000 AD. On "Heading Northe" songs like "Holy Cross" and "The Revenge Of AsaLande" deal with that subject. "Lion Of The Northe" is about the Swedish King Gustav II, who entered the 30 Years' War. Lars even came up with a Swedish end part for that track, which felt pretty weird for this Danish rocker to sing. On the other hand, we still have no bullshit Heavy Metal anthems like "Metal Legacy" and "Iron Gods".
HOM. What are the main novelties in "Heading Northe" that we don't find in "Northern Rage"? In four years we imagine there are some.
Like I mentioned earlier, we wanted a somewhat broader variety of songs on this album. "The Revenge Of Asa Lande" is a good example. It's a very dark and almost doomy track, where we really had the chance to build up a strong atmosphere. Overall on the album we emphasized more on backing vocal textures, to achieve more of an authentic norse sound. We also incorporated more riffbased epic material like "Into The Battle" into the Stormwarrior universe.
HOM. In our opinion, "Heading Northe" is an album full of hymns where it is very difficult to emphasize a single song among the others. All of them are very heavy, very authentic and direct, but if I had to choose only one it would be "Remember The Oath", which is incredible. What is your favourite song or one that you have any anecdote you can tell us?
I have several favourites. With the title track "Heading Northe" Lars came up with a killer song. He managed to combine furious speed with very emotional content. "Lion Of The Northe" from the bass intro over the solo parts, where you really feel like standing on the battlefield, to the Swedish outro part, this track is very dynamic. "Metal Legacy" A tribute to the metal community all over the world. "The revenge Of Asa Lande" The darkest track with a strong authentic heathen atmosphere. "Remember The Oathe" The fastest track. A motherfucking killing machine. Great guitarwork from Alex. "Into The Battle" A real Epic Battle Hymn.
HOM. Tell us a bit about what you think about the actual European musical scene and if there is any band that calls your attention.
I guess we've been spending too long in the studio. I'm a bit out of touch with the rest of the music scene. But, compared to the scene 10 years ago, I have a very positive feeling.
HOM. Now a difficult question..you have to choose between "Land Of The Free II" and "Gambling With The Devil" and tell me why.
I don't have as much time to listen to new albums, as I used to. So I haven't really had a chance to listen to the albums yet. - Interesting question, though.
HOM. What do you think about the fact that the Media consider Edguy as the new Helloween?
With Savage Circus we supported Edguy in Japan in 2006. We had an extremely cool time with the band, and they have certainly earned their current status. I wish them all the best, Including being the potential new Helloween...
HOM. What are your aims after the release of this album? As you know the third record is usually the most important for a band.
The third album's traditionally the make it or break it album for most bands. We have been working very hard to achieve a great third album, so it's going to be interesting to see where it will take us and how the critics and most of all, the metal community is reacting to it. Now that we put this long recording phase behind us, we definitely want to tour as much as possible. We're already confirmed for quite a few 2008 Festivals like Magic Circle with Manowar and Up The Hammers in Greece, and we're on the lookout for a good longer tour later this year. The events of the next couple of months will decide.
HOM. Will we have the opportunity of seeing you in Spain?
I'm sure you will. Either on one of your festivals or as a part of a tour. Spain is a great place to play, so that's just a question of time.
HOM. Thank you very much for your answers and good luck with the album.
Stormwarrior was formed back in 1998 by Lars Ramcke and the former drummer André Schuhmann, who's now the drummer of Dark Age. The original idea was to build on the metal tradition of the early 80's and generally to raise hell in the metal underground. After the two demos "Metal Victory" (1999) and "Barbaric Steel" (2000) and two 7" singles "Possesed By Metal" and "Spikes And Leather" (2002), Stormwarrior were ready to record a full length album. Kai Hansen is a long standing friend of the band. After meeting Lars in Headbanger's Ballroom in Hamburg and hearing "Defenders Of Metal" from the first SW demo, he spontaneously announced that he would produce the first Stormwarrior album, and he actually made good on that promise when he and Dirk Schlächter did the debut album in 2002. I guess the material reminded him of the energy in the old Helloween days. 
School of Metal like the old Helloween and Running Wild stuff, Stormwarrior originally started out building on that tradition. I come from Copenhagen in Denmark, which is a somewhat different metal scene, we tend to look to the UK and US for inspiration, but I've really learned to appreciate the German metal scene as well. We played some festivals with Kai Hansen over the last couple of years. In 2007 we did the Magic Circle Festival and Wacken Open Air, starting out with a full throttle Stormwarrior set with Kai joining us for the last half of the show, where we played some of the old material from the "Walls Of Jericho" era, which was a lot of fun for everybody involved. The full SW set from the W.O.A. show will be released on DVD later this year. So, of course there's a strong Stormwarrior/Kai Hansen connection, which has helped the band a lot in the past. But in the end, you have to walk the path alone, and with "Heading Northe" we've done just that. 
When Stormwarrior joined Gamma Ray on tour in Japan, the possibility to record the shows was simply there, so why not release the material? It was obvious to everyone that "At Foreign Shores" wasn't destined to become a big selling album, but the tour was an important part of the SW evolution, so it's cool thing for us to have that documented. 
songs on this album. "The Revenge Of Asa Lande" is a good example. It's a very dark and almost doomy track, where we really had the chance to build up a strong atmosphere. Overall on the album we emphasized more on backing vocal textures, to achieve more of an authentic norse sound. We also incorporated more riffbased epic material like "Into The Battle" into the Stormwarrior universe. 
The third album's traditionally the make it or break it album for most bands. We have been working very hard to achieve a great third album, so it's going to be interesting to see where it will take us and how the critics and most of all, the metal community is reacting to it. Now that we put this long recording phase behind us, we definitely want to tour as much as possible. We're already confirmed for quite a few 2008 Festivals like Magic Circle with Manowar and Up The Hammers in Greece, and we're on the lookout for a good longer tour later this year. The events of the next couple of months will decide. 
