CENTURY

// If you’ve done your metal homework, there’s a good chance you’re well aware of Sweden’s fantastic output of heavy metal in the 1980s. As heavy metal’s popularity came and went, this strong output remained, but was largely sheltered in the underground scene. One of the best bands to emerge from this reignition of Swedish heavy metal is none other than CENTURY, a band directly influenced by all that great Swedish metal from the ‘80s. Seeing as these guys are one of my all-time favorite bands, I had the great pleasure to speak with Staffan and Leo. //

---

Leo Ekström Sollenmo & Staffan Tengnér (2024)

Hey, guys! Would you mind introducing yourselves and explain your roles in CENTURY?

↪ Staffan: CENTURY is Staffan Tengnér (Guitars and vocals), Leo Ekström Sollenmo (Guitar and drums). The songwriting is split pretty evenly between the two of us and we often collaborate and finish writing each other's songs. I play most of the guitars on the records, but Leo plays rhythm guitar on some tracks on the new album. We take turns recording bass.

Staffan, if I understand correctly, CENTURY was basically formed from you building a studio and wanting to record some heavy metal songs. I know Leo came up with the name, but did you already have a vision for the band at that time?

↪ Staffan: At that time, I had already written ”Neon Warrior” and ”Streets In The Dark,” so that became the starting point for the rest of the songs. Those tracks are pretty straightforward, so I thought it was cool when Leo showed me some slightly more progressive ideas like ”Shadow of the Hunter,” which has a bit more going on in the riffs and the songwriting.

Leo: I just wanted a band name with one word that stands out a bit. I was thinking of the same kind of names like EUROPE, UNIVERSE or NEPTUNE. As Staffan mentions, he had some stuff already written and it just fit perfectly with the riffs and stuff I had.

With CENTURY operating primarily as a studio project, what made you decide to play live? Are there any compromises you have to make when playing in front of an audience?

↪ Staffan: In the very beginning, I remember thinking CENTURY would be only a studio project (this was during the pandemic too, so it wasn’t really an option at the time anyway). But since we got quite some attention for the demo, we figured it would be cool to play some gigs at least. Then in late 2021, we got the offer to perform at Keep It True Rising as our first show, which made us put together the live line up. It was a wild ride and a very chaotic experience. Isak [Rosemarin] was hospitalized the day before we left, so we had to perform as a trio. I had never sung on stage before so I was counting on having his backup vocals on there, etc. Lots of fun was had, but we thankfully sound a lot better now. Regarding compromises, we do try to perform the songs as faithfully to the album as we can, but we don’t always do all the vocal harmonies for example.

Speaking of playing live, you have Isak Rosemarin and Edvin Aftonfalk on guitar and bass respectively. Given how well they perform with you live and knowing that they’re permanent members of CENTURY outside the studio, do you think there will come a time where they’ll have a hand in songwriting and recording?

↪ Staffan: With all respect to them, we’re most likely going to remain as a duo. It just works really well for us as we think in similar ways and have very similar taste. Also, we both write a lot of music, so we already don’t have time to record all our ideas. Between the two of us, we probably have around fifteen new songs that we haven’t had time to finish.

Both of you have extensive credits for current and former musical projects. One that really stands out to me is the 2011 demo from the death metal band WHORE, on which Leo played drums. I really love that demo and was surprised to find out that CENTURY has multiple connections to death metal, with Edvin being the half-brother of ENTOMBED’s Nicke Andersson. Do either of you have any favorite death metal bands, Swedish or otherwise?

↪ Leo: I actually play guitar and did the vocals on that demo. Glad you like it! There’s a lot of great classic death metal bands, I personally ain’t the biggest fan of the Swedish death metal sound from the 90s, but more bands from the 80s like POSSESSED, DEATH, BATHORY etc.

Staffan: That WHORE tape is great! It reminds me of NECROVORE and early MORBID ANGEL.

Continuing that last question, Staffan, you have a solo project called BLACK SPELL. What kind of music do you make under that moniker?

↪ Staffan: I recorded the BLACK SPELL tape in 2019 with help from some friends. It was inspired by Italian horror soundtracks and other dark instrumental prog rock. I started recording the follow-up but never got the time to finish it. However, I did bring some of those ideas over to the upcoming debut LP of the band CONTAMINAZIONE, where I currently play bass and guitar. By the way, while I was working on the second BLACK SPELL release, some doom band formed using the same name and themes – I’d like to take the opportunity to clarify that I have absolutely nothing to do with that.

While on the topic of connections and influences, the first thing that gripped me about CENTURY was how authentic you guys sound. I often find that to be a problem in modern incarnations of traditional heavy metal; the sonic nostalgia is simply lost. But with CENTURY, my mind goes straight to HEAVY LOAD, GOTHAM CITY, JONAH QUIZZ, IRON MAIDEN, and a whole slew of other mainstream and obscure metal acts. How did you achieve this sound?

↪ Leo: I think it just comes down to what we ourselves want to hear on an album. We also don’t want to sound like the same generic stuff that’s been around for a while. Just get to the core of heavy metal.

Staffan: Yeah, I agree. There are so many “traditional” heavy metal bands that have a modern digital-sounding production that really doesn’t fit the music. I’ve mixed all our releases, except the new album, and I always try my best to make it sound like old albums that Leo and I like. Also, the studio we work in is set up in a pretty old-fashioned way. I helped build it, but most of the equipment belongs to a friend of mine. He’s into lots of 60’s-70’s music and collects vintage preamps and builds his own ribbon mics, etc. Him and I have engineered all our recordings there together, so I think his old school mindset might have contributed to the sound as well.

Staffan, I’ve seen you mention MINDLESS SINNER in multiple interviews as being an influence on CENTURY. Their “Turn On the Power” record is one of my all-time favorites, and I can certainly hear some qualities of their music in yours. What aspects of MINDLESS SINNER influenced you and do you have any favorite songs of theirs?

↪ Staffan: ”Turn On The Power” is of course a great album, but my favorite by far is their ”Master of Evil” EP. That is one of my favorite heavy metal releases – incredible songs and urgent, passionate performances! It’s hard to describe it, but it’s both very catchy and melancholic at the same time. It’s one of those records I always want to hear loud late at night when I’ve been drinking with friends; life doesn’t get much better than that.

Your first single, “The Fighting Eagle,” was released with a cover of “Still Alive” by WITCH on the B-side. Seeing as WITCH is certainly a deep cut Swedish metal act, what made you choose that song?

↪ Leo: It’s always been one of my favorite Swedish bands and that song is cool with its slow intro and fast-paced solo. We thought it would fit in with our other songs really well.

Staffan: When we recorded that cover, that song still hadn’t even gotten an official release yet, so we figured it was a way to pay tribute to a band that never got the attention it deserves (there’s a compilation reissue of the demos now though, check it out). We reached out to one of the original members who listened to and approved of our version before we released it.

When “The Conquest of Time” came out in 2023, it felt like I’d been transported back to when I was first getting into metal. All the things I loved like harmony vocals, strong & driving riffs, and killer lead guitar work were all present. In fact, “The Conquest of Time” was the first post-1990 album I ever purchased! How did it feel to release that album after being held up by production delays and the mixing/mastering process?

↪ Staffan: That’s sick, glad to hear it! It was definitely a relief to finally get it out. The initial delay was because we took a break from recording to start rehearsing for the live shows (while I was also simultaneously touring as guitarist with HENRIK PALM). When that was all done and we finished the album, the waiting time for vinyl production was insane, so the album came out almost a year later. By that time, we had already written lots of new songs.

The first single you released from “Sign of the Storm,” was the incredible “Sacrifice.” On the B-side, you included another great song called “Avenging Force,” which does not appear on the album. Is there a reason you chose to leave it off?

↪ Staffan: That’s one of your songs Leo, and if I remember correctly, you weren’t really happy with it? In hindsight, I think it’s fucking cool and I could have easily swapped out ”No Time For Tomorrow” to have it on the album but oh well. I also like the idea of having strong tracks as B-sides.

Leo: I just thought it was maybe a little too long and boring haha. Not a bad song by any stretch, but could have been worked on a little more I think.

Now on the topic of “Sign of the Storm,” I feel like it shows some evolution in the music of CENTURY. Especially on songs like “No Time for Tomorrow” and “Sacrifice,” there’s a strong speed metal vibe. Do you think this is a result of both of you guys playing in the speed metal band TØRONTO?

↪ Leo: No, I think it just turned out that way. When I wrote “Sacrifice,” I was just thinking that we need a fast one as an opener on the album.

Staffan: I think we were just excited in the studio and played the songs slightly faster than intended, which gave them a bit more of a speed metal feeling haha.

I’ve noticed a lot of CENTURY’s lyrics include themes around fire. Is there a reason why your lyrics gravitate towards that subject, or is it just an easy word to fit into songs?

↪ Staffan: I guess it’s just a word that’s easy to fit in, both phonetically and thematically. I try not to overuse certain words or phrases, but I also try not to overthink lyrics once I’ve gotten them down and I guess that leads to me recycling lines sometimes. I’m still pretty new to writing lyrics, but I’ve learned a lot since the demo.

Leo, you played multiple instruments (alongside Lindbom Gunnari) on the 2016 self-titled TEMISTO album. The progressive black/death metal sound of TEMISTO is so wildly different to CENTURY, but do you ever get the urge to incorporate some extreme drumming into this music? If CENTURY keeps up with the occasional speed metal song, I’d imagine it may come in handy.

↪ Leo: No, that would just sound like shit. It’s important to me to keep certain musical influences away from different bands.

“Reflections in Fire” was written after seeing a double-feature of “Prince of Darkness” (1987) and “La Chiesa” (1989), is that correct? What about these horror movies in particular inspired the writing of that song? Does CENTURY have any other songs influenced by horror icons like Dario Argento or John Carpenter?

↪ Staffan: Correct! “Reflections In Fire” is the only one to reference those specifically, but there are lots of other movie references in our songs. “The Fighting Eagle” is of course about “Ator, The Fighting Eagle” (which in turn borrowed the title from an old silent film about Napoleon or something). The closing track on the first album, “Servants of the Iron Mask” is a tribute to Lucio Fulci’s otherworldly fantasy film “Conquest,” one of my favorites. “Neon Warrior” is based on “Time Walker,” while “Master of Hell” vaguely references Ingmar Bergman’s “The Seventh Seal.” There are a few examples on the new album as well: “Possessed by the Night” was inspired by a very obscure Swedish film called “Sacrilege” (although we later realized that there’s a film called “Possessed by the Night” too, which none of us have seen). The instrumental closing track was named after the movie of the same name, “Sorceress.”

Staffan, you do all the artwork for CENTURY as well. How do you come up with the subject matter on your releases? Do you also do the J-cards for CENTURY’s tapes, or does someone else design them using your artwork?

↪ Staffan: I didn’t do the layout for the CD and tape versions of “The Conquest of Time”, but I have designed all the J-cards for our self-released tapes (“Demo MMXX”, “Master of Hell / Stronghold”, “Sacrifice / Avenging Force” and “Children of the Past”) as well as the LP layouts. Usually, I try to make artwork that fits either the lyrics or the general feeling of the songs. I’ve found that I gravitate to medieval looking, heraldic imagery, but I try to change it up a bit between releases, while still keeping it coherent. I feel the same way about the artwork as I do with the sound production and mixing – it needs to fit the music.

I’ve been curious about your partnership with Electric Assault Records for a long time. Were they one of the labels who contacted you right after releasing your demo in 2020? How has the experience been working under an American label as a Swedish band?

↪ Staffan: Yeah, he wrote to us the day after the demo came out. I already knew of him and his label since he had worked with so many Swedish bands before, many of them featuring friends of mine. I had also met him briefly at a MORTUARY DRAPE show in New York a few years earlier, but we were both pretty wasted that night haha! Anyway, it’s been great so far! He’s used to working with Swedes and it’s really convenient for us to have a guy who is used to managing tours and shows both here in Europe and in America.

You released a split in October of 2023 with fellow Swedes and labelmates TYRANN. Both TYRANN’s song and your song were done entirely in Swedish, a bit of a departure for both of you! How did this project come to be, and are the members of CENTURY and TYRANN close?

↪ Staffan: We’re good friends, especially me and Tobias! I think we were just drinking beer one night and he said we should do a split release. He chose to record a cover of the Swedish band IMPERIET, and Leo and I figured it was a good opportunity to do something different. I thought it would be fun to kind of trespass on TYRANN’s territory by singing in Swedish about vampires, which they also do a lot. We did a release show with them in Stockholm which turned out wild – fully packed venue with lots of chaos.

With the release of your next album “Sign of the Storm” approaching fast, what’s in the future for CENTURY? Do you plan on returning to the U.S. for some shows? I know I’d be thrilled to see a CENTURY gig in Denver!

↪ Staffan: We’re planning to come back to the U.S. next year! We haven’t been able to finalize the tour plan yet since, as you know, the U.S. is a very difficult and expensive country to enter for a small band like us. If everything goes according to plan, we’re going to try to cover as many states as possible in 2025!

Thanks for entertaining my questions! Any final words?

↪ Leo: Thanks for the support and watch out for our new album next year!

---

Interviewed: December of 2024