Interview:	ELEINE
Title:	Firm determination

After the Symphonic Metal band parted ways with drummer Jesper Sunnhagen and bassist Filip Stålberg in February of this year, singer Madeleine Liljestam and axeman Rikard Ekberg, along with string scrubber Victor Jonasson, are back in full force.

The new EP „We Stand United“ shines with an unbroken will to maximum strength. I talk to Madeleine and Rikard about the new release.

Congratulations for your upcoming release … your 3rd EP and pretty special - how does it feel for you?



Madeleine: It feels great and always as exciting of course. And what makes this EP stand out a bit more for us is that, even if the title track ”We Stand United” and everything was planned already last year.. the events within the band happening in the beginning of the year really made this title track make more sense to us, as if it got even closer to us. So no matter what – in both a good and a bad way – this EP will always have a special place in our heart and mark a difficult time for us at the same time as we dedicate it to our fans with the reminder that if we stand united, we can power through whatever obstacles along our journey.

Rikard: 4 Full length albums and now 3 EPs, quite the feeling if I’m being honest. I remember how we would scratch together our first couple of song and being like “Yeah! I wonder if we will be able to do more?”. Although music and art doesn’t come from a happy place most of the times, it’s empowering nature is extremely rewarding. Hype!

How do you see and evaluate the mighty hymnic title-track within your interesting musical journey so far? Amon Amarth will love it, I guess. 


Rikard: Aaaah you say our musical endeavor will please the Swedish metal giants? You know, nothing beats a nice chugg. Sometimes, in between the chuggs, I add musical jokes. I’m gonna leave it at that. If you know you know!


With which moods and visions did you approach the songwriting for this gripping theatrical to cinematic visionary track? 


Madeleine: That is a great question, thank you! The mood is without a doubt a determined goal of fighting through a heavy happening in life! A mood that speaks of hurt, loss, pain – that you’re determined to shape into perseverance and rising up on your feet again! 



Rikard: First off, thank you! For me, the mood is always to empower by telling a story. Gripping the listener by either melody, lyric or total metal mayhem.

"We Stand United": although the title of the track says it all in adv. - please bring the readers closer to the main lyrical content and message of it!



Madeleine: Lyrics that states where we are, and what we have to do to be able to push through. ”We walk with death behind us, we walk until the end of days. With our flame to guide us, it’s in our eyes it’s in our veins”. This is the beginning of the songs lyrics that really is references to our latest full-length album ”We Shall Remain”, and this part states where we are – what we actually have and that no matter what, that flame we have inside of us – that passion, is what will lead and guide us forward. For me, this truly represents a feeling that I am keeping close especially on heavier days where you may feel more low than others. Where you need an important reminder of why you’re doing all of this, why you are pushing through when it could’ve been so easy to give up. Also on better days it is a very empowering feeling that pumps me up every time. In the chorus you can also hear the lyrics ”... in hell we gained our wisdom, we will never die”. Fans with a sharp ear will know this is a reference to both ”Dancing In Hell” (from our 3rd album” and ”Hell Moon” (from our 2nd album”. ”We Stand United” really summarizes some of the most empowering songs we have delivered so far, and gets the shape of this battle hymn where we would love to hear our fans sing along, enjoy the moment and be present – and feel more empowered when the song ends than they were before! 



Rikard: Just as Madeleine states, “We Stand United” is a collection of our works up until now and a “we know where we’ve been, we are here now…let’s continue onward!” kind of thing. We can add more lyrical reference to the song: “Until the darkness claim us” can be tied to “An empty darkness embrace you with size” from Never Forget, “We walk without religion” can be tied to “God has poisoned your mind” from Another Rite, “As we bleed before you, you see we all bleed the same” can be tied to “I feel death’s touch as I spit my own blood” from Enemies. I’d say “We Stand United” is loaded with meaning, metal and easter eggs. Listen on repeat, for a long time.


„Never Forget“ und „We Are Legion“ - how did you choose these two live songs from the set for the EP – was it tricky or rather easy?


Madeleine: A little bit tricky since we had a whole set to choose from at Masters Of Rock! But, whenever starting to talk about and visualize the EP it became pretty clear that these 2 tracks fit the EP the best based on the entire vibe and goal with the EP!

Rikard: Always hard to choose! Those two stood out to us from the performance at Masters Of Rock 2024.


What are your fondest memories of this gig on the Czech event?



Madeleine: Definitely the heat, amazing crowd but also how fantastic these promoters are! 



Rikard: The happy crowd and happy fans at the signing session. 100 %.

This EP is designed to "give a taste of what's to come" – so will the upcoming album be even more powerful and anthemic?



Rikard: I wouldn’t say it’s designed to be a taste of what’s to come. With that said, there will be many, many elements of what people has come to love from our music, and more.



Madeleine: This EP is a bridge between albums, and with a nice looking back to the previous album – a new song that summarizes so much of everything we (us and the fans) have been through – we want our fans to know that the next album will be even more raw, more powerful and anthemic without a doubt. There’s nothing to be afraid of, only more to embrace!

Anything you would like to add?



Madeleine: Always grateful for you guys highlighting our new releases, and so grateful to our fans, old- and new – for listening to our music, embracing it and feeling the songs with us and hopefully we can see as many of you as possible on shows soon! We are going on a European Tour in September to early October as special guest to Primal Fear, which will most likely be the only tour we do with this EP, and then it won’t be long until we present even more for you for 2026 … we are very excited!

Rikard: Couldn’t agree more here with Madeleine, we are very grateful to you in this and for also actually listening to the music you review/ask questions about. You’d be surprised how many just look at a picture and try to review a musical album from that.

A huge thank you to all who support our band through streams, buying merch, engaging on social media, our dear Patrons and also on our Twitch streams respectively. Eleine is fueled by our fans, nothing would be possible without them - our Legion.


© Markus Eck, 09.08.2025

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