Eric Vanlerberghe — Vocals
Steven Menoian — Guitars
Jon Eberhard – Bass
Dylan Bowman — Guitars
Gabe Helguera — Drums

Since forming in Metro Detroit, Michigan in 2013, metalcore/post-hardcore outfit I Prevail have enjoyed vast amounts of critical and commercial success. Their first album, 2016’s Lifelines, achieved gold status in both the US and Canada, while 2019’s TRAUMA repeated that accomplishment in Canada. The latter was nominated for Best Rock Album at that year’s Grammys, with single “Bow Down” also a contender for Best Metal Performance. 2022’s TRUE POWER saw the band continue to forge their own musical path, refusing to conform to the expectations of the genre, and instead demonstrating just how much of a tour de force I Prevail’s music is.

Now, with fourth album Violent Nature, the band have taken that to the next level. Its first single— also called “Violent Nature”— is quite possibly the most brutal song the band have ever released, musically and lyrically.‘Shut the fuck up! Do me a favor!’ spits Eric Vanlerberghe bitterly as it begins.‘Cut your heart out! Swallow the razor!’ It’s an unforgiving and unhinged introduction, and it only gets more intense, ferocious and extreme from there. ‘I’m a sick motherfucker with a violent nature’ the vocalist declares with a visceral growl a few seconds later. There’s poetic license in those lyrics there for sure, but their menacing, threating and, yes, violent, nature sounds incredibly real and menacing.

“A lot of the record came from dealing with different conflicts in our personal, professional and romantic lives,” explains Vanlerberghe,“and this was a cathartic way to get through and over a lot of those things. We needed to get things off our chests. “Violent Nature” is one of the heaviest songs we’ve ever written— it’s a fantasy of actually snapping and just unleashing everything that’s been held in and held back through the years from some of these personal conflicts and strained relationships.”

While that’s the setting for the record, not everything is quite as brutal or intense, as demonstrated by its single, “Rain.” Though far from mellow, the song’s powerful, anthemic chorus practically feels like a lullaby in comparison to “Violent Nature.” Still, there are hints of that same anger and torment in its lyrics, whether that’s ‘Go grab your knife, it’s killing season’ or the sneering, snarling declaration that ‘We’re all just born to suffer’. Nevertheless, the song exemplifies the two very different sides of this album, and the opposing forces that weave their way through it.

“The two singles represent the dichotomy of the record,” says Vanlerberghe. “Even though we have some other stuff that’s more mellow and melodic than “Rain,” these two go from one end of the spectrum to the other.”

They also mark the vocalist’s first foray as the only singer of the band, having fully taken on the
roles of both clean and unclean vocals. Though he’d previously dabbled with the former, being entirely responsible for them was a whole new ballgame. What’s more, his singing voice is quite amazing– just listen to his timbre on the softer parts of “Rain.” There’s no question that he can sing just as well as he can scream.

Welcome, then, to the new era of I Prevail. Not only is this the best version of the band to date, but it bristles with intention, passion and energy. That was enabled and inspired by a greater amount of freedom when it came to writing these songs.

“Every couple of records we’ve tried to reinvent ourselves a little bit,” says Vanlerberghe. “Moving into this new role and what we’re trying to create sonically, it’s going to feel a little different than the last two records, but I truly think it’s a record that encompasses the sounds and the style that we really thrived on over the last 10 years. Taking on this new role personally and having a different environment in the writing room— you can’t buy this kind of motivation. It’s a blessing and a curse to have this big shake-up happen, but we found our way through the bag. We found the light and the direction we needed to take.”

Recorded in two stints— in December last year and then February this year— at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, Violent Nature was self-produced by the band under the guidance of bassist and keyboardist Jon Eberhard. Though he only officially joined the line-up in 2023, he’d previously worked on songs with I Prevail on both 2019’s TRAUMA and 2022’s TRUE POWER and was a natural choice to take the helm this time around.

“I think he sees the vision clearer than any other producer could,” says Vanlerberghe, “because he’s just living it with us.”

It was also the first time, the singer says, that I Prevail have made an album in a professional studio
“after ten years of doing it in basically in a garage or a basement.” Remarkably, given their success over the last decade- plus, the band had never used a treated room.

“It felt exciting to be in a room where many other much more talented musicians have worked out of,” he continues. “It really added to the beauty and the excitement of this story and this era.”

Violent Nature is a real mission statement, the sound of a band racing into that new era at full-throttle— no hesitation, no regrets, no compromises. It’s a dark set of songs riddled with what Vanlerberghe calls “a vast and wide array of emotions” that reach deep into the complexity of the human condition. It’s what I Prevail do best, but, inspired by their own circumstances, they’ve taken it up another notch. The singer’s hope is that when people listen to the record, they get the same kind of emotional release that he did when the band were making it.

“While writing some of these songs,” he says, “some things did click for me, and with some relationships I was able to find peace with how things were left, or how things are or how things were. It was helpful for me writing these songs to get through some of that stuff, but there also some songs that I go back and listen to now, and I really begin to think and re-engage how I thought of those relationships. It was extremely cathartic and I still relate to them, and it still helps me. I really hope this record has that same sort of effect for others who may be needing to feel those things or get through some of these things themselves.”

In addition to that catharsis— whether for themselves or for their fans—the album also offers a glimpse at what the future of holds for the band.

“I think what we did with this is an elevation,” Vanlerberghe says. “I believe we took a step up with all this music and experimenting when writing this record. I’m very confident about what we’ve created and I’m excited to take this step into the new era of I Prevail. I learned a lot from the last ten years, and I can’t wait to implement all of that over the next ten.”