Lotesto already had most of the songs written for what would become the debut album, Beyond Tomorrow, when he and Klimczak started working together, so when he answered an ad for a drummer in a local music paper in March, Scott Lang entered the fold and the three were off to find the remaining pieces of the puzzle.
A year-long search briefly brought Klimczak's old band mates, rhythm guitarist John Malufka, and bassist, Brian Rossin, into the fold, at the start of 1997, to record the Promo Sampler 1997[4] limited release containing the songs "Reflections Unclear" and "The Bridge of Dawn".
While strong reviews and press continued to pour in,[9] the prospects for major indie record deal seemed to drift further and further away so the band decided to release the album worldwide via Majesphere in September 2003.
Shortly thereafter, the band parted ways with drummer, Scott Lang, in October 2003[10] and replaced him with Chuck White (ex-Michael Angelo Batio, Winterkill, Spirit Web) in December 2003.
[11] Gordon returned to the fold on bass as a full-time member once again in September 2004[12] and the band continued as a four piece with Andy Parades (ex-Talamasca) temporarily filling in on rhythm guitar when possible for live dates.
After some very positive discussions, the band decided to sign with the UK's Now & Then Records, whom, at the time, had a very good reputation in the industry, in May 2004 for a full scale release of Reigning Memories throughout the Europe and Far East markets.
[14] This period of turmoil and evolution was not quite finished yet, however, and to the surprise of many, the band announced the parting of ways with vocalist, Russ Klimczak, in May 2006,[15] thus closing the first chapter of the Ion Vein story after a solid 10-year run.
Other key moments during this period included opening for Overkill, King's X, Metal Church, Trouble, Loudness, Symphony X, Sonata Arctica, and Seven Witches; appearance at the Brave Words, Bloody Knuckles fest in Cleveland, Ohio, and Louder, Harder, Faster fest in Allentown, Pennsylvania; and having Reigning Memories named in the "Top 10 Local Albums of 2003" (#7) by the Northwest Indiana Times,[16] and reviewed by Greg Kot in the Chicago Tribune.
Four tracks were mixed for shopping to labels, and Ion Vein finally returned to the stage in full form at Chicago Powerfest 2008, appearing once again, with Iced Earth to a packed house.
The band finished recording and mixing the album, and continued a very strong run of live dates in the Chicago area, but was forced to bring their newfound momentum to a grinding halt at the end of 2009, parting ways with James, and Gordon, due to irreconcilable differences.
In collaboration with Greece's Arkeyn Steel Records, a combination release was put together to celebrate the very early years of guitarist, Chris Lotesto's, beginnings in Latent Fury and the transformation into Ion Vein.
The CD release was limited to 500 hand-numbered copies and featured the three studio songs from the classic 1991 cassette demo, titled "Latent Fury," along with six unreleased live tracks plus the long out-of-print Ion Vein debut album, Beyond Tomorrow, in re-mastered form.