Grammy-nominated Michigan rockers I Prevail are back with a bang with their new album TRUE POWER – and fans definitely won’t be disappointed with their energetic latest offering.
Once again teaming up with award-winning producer Tyler Smith as they did for 2019 hit record Trauma, TRUE POWER features the sort of stadium-sized riffs that will rattle your teeth loose from your gums and unforgettable, supremely catchy melodies that will camp out in your brain for weeks at a time.
True to its name, TRUE POWER comes in all guns blazing with their absolute barnburner of a first single, Body Bag.
The high-octane lead single is a return to the band’s heavier roots and kicks off the record with a bang- a deliberate choice, according to clean vocalist Brian Burkheiser.
“With this whole album in general, we didn’t really have any preconceived thoughts of like, ‘this track go here, this track has to go there,'” Burkheiser tells Tone Deaf.
“But when we started writing that song, something about it just felt super special. It was the perfect track to go as number one, not only because it leaned on the heavier side and probably has the heaviest breakdown on the entire record, but because lyrically, it fits the mantra of what we wanted the album to present.”
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While their previous record personified the turbulent struggles I Prevail were dealing with at the time, including Burkheiser’s vocal injury and the death of the band’s close friend, the album serves as a representation of the group’s ability to push through any obstacles that stand in their way.
“It feels TRUE POWER is almost an extension of Trauma,” Burkeiser explains.
“When we wrote Trauma, I obviously was dealing with my vocal injury which really did create a lot of trauma. Plus being on the road for so long and not really having time to decompress, and the loss of Eric’s best friend to use suicide, I feel like a lot of us just went through a lot of traumatic events coming into this record – it was a lot, but we took that trauma and learned how to embrace it.
“Even to this day, I’m still dealing with the scarring from the injury, even though I was able to get a successful surgery, but I eventually realised you gotta let go of your fear and think, ‘Hey, we can kind of move on to that next phase and show people that this is a band that really can stand the test of time and get through everything.'”
He continued, “Even with the name I Prevail, it’s meant to show people that no matter what you’re going through in life, you always can prevail through things and you always will be able to get out of a dark place. And I feel this record, it was going through all those previous traumatic events that really did allow us to take this next step – not just as a band, but in life too.
“Like, I got married this year, Steve, our guitarist, had a child, which was the first child born into the I Prevail family, so we had a lot of life things too that kind of came shaped this record.”
And while, for the most part, the dark days are behind them, Burkenheiser admitted that he still battles his demons, though this time around, he’s learned to be more open about it.
“I’m not gonna lie to you, I have my days,” he revealed. “That’s something that I wanna be very transparent about.”
“This record, definitely still touches a little bit on depression and dark times, but there are those times that you can also let loose and not have to feel those dark bumps all the time.”
“Funnily enough, I recently went through that while performing in Australia. I was having the best time for the first five shows – it was absolutely incredible – and it felt so good, but then going into the sixth show, I woke up super sick and not really feeling my best. And all of a sudden I went up to warm up – and my voice just was completely gone. It definitely brought back some PTSD from the vocal injury and whatnot.
He added, “But I’ll never forget, I went out there and my voice just was gone for that last show and it made me really sad. And honestly, it got to a point where I started breaking down during our song Breaking Down, and told the fans that I was really sorry because mentally I was beating myself up over. But then the most amazing thing happened – everybody in the crowd just threw their love and support at me and tried to sing out the words, as loud as they could.”
“It’s a moment that kind of goes to show that even though I’m a singer and looks like life is going great on social media or whatever, you never know really what someone’s dealing with.”
“Now, I definitely embrace the trauma, and I do feel like my own ‘true power’ was me sharing those words with the crowd where previously I would have stayed quiet about it and stayed in a dark place. It was really cathartic to be able to share with the crowd that I wasn’t having my best night and mentally, I didn’t feel that good. And just all these positive messages after the show saying, ‘thank you for giving your all’ – it was awesome to see.”
“It just showed me how much love there is in Australia and just how much the fans relate to us.”
As for what message he hopes fans take from TRUE POWER, Burkheiser says, “I would say it’s that you can get through anything.”
“You need to be in touch with your emotions. You need to find that balance in life, because you are gonna have amazing life events that happen, but you’re also gonna have very dark life events that happen. And it’s trying to find that balance and knowing when to let it out.”
“You can come out with true power and be able to embrace that trauma that you’ve lived with.”
TRUE POWER is out now via Fearless Records. You can check out the album below.
Check out Body Bag by I Prevail below:
