Originally formed in 1989, as Latent Fury, by lead guitarist Chris Lotesto, the band released a self-titled three-song demo[3] in 1991, dubbed "legendary" by many European fans, before lineup changes resulted in that era coming to an end along with the necessity of a name change in 1994. Lotesto, along with remaining Latent Fury members, John Ashe, Dan Charatin, and Mike Holewinski, pressed on as Ion Vein, a name Ashe came up with to describe what the effect the band wanted their music to have on fans, for most of 1995 before various circumstances led Lotesto to re-group and re-form the band under the same moniker at the end of that year.