I Prevail have released their third studio LP, True Power, via Fearless Records. It’s the Michigan metalcore band’s first release since 2019’s Trauma, which included the singles ‘Bow Down’ and ‘Hurricane’, the former of which received a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance.
The quintet, comprising vocalists Brian Burkheiser and Eric Vanlerberghe, bass guitarist Steve Menoian, guitarist Dylan Bowman and drummer Gabe Helguera, recorded True Power with producer Tyler Smyth. In coordination with the album’s release, Burkheiser takes us behind the scenes to reveal five things that influenced the album’s creation.
I Prevail: True Power
Family affairs
So actually, me and Dylan both got married during the making of True Power and Steve had a baby. That’s something people may not know – two of the band members got married and a baby was had, so we had some significant life events occur during this record.
Yoyoing between Michigan and Los Angeles
The entire record was done between Michigan and Los Angeles. We constantly would work in Michigan for a month and then go to LA for two weeks and then be back in Michigan for two weeks and then go to LA for another month.
It was so crazy trying to get logistics sorted and that’s where it was great only having one producer on this record and really keeping the writing circle small. That allowed us to be able to travel and get away with things a little bit more than trying to go to a bunch of different cities. It worked out pretty well.
The true power of Eric’s basement
The title, True Power, was created in Eric’s basement. And, fun fact, I remember I recorded it because we were going through and coming up with a bunch of names, but I have proof. So, that’s just a little fun fact that this album’s name came to be while we were at Eric’s house.
Profanity police
Everybody laughed so much during this album cycle because I was the “fuck police”. The guys kept wanting to say the word “fuck” too much in songs. So, I would be like, “Woah, woah,” and come in and tell them, “No, we can’t say that, we’ve said it too many times already on this record.” There was an active swear count going on. And I had to reel Eric back in a couple times. There wasn’t a swear jar, but actually I should have made a swear jar, that would’ve been smart.
The influence of felines
Cats were a massive part of this record. It might sound weird, but basically we were at my house where my studio’s at and I have three cats. And Tyler, our producer, at his studio, he also has three cats. He was out in LA. And then at Steve’s, who’s place we would work out of sometimes, he has his cat there.
Basically, without cats, I don’t know if True Power would’ve gotten quite to where it got to because they’re just purring up on you and stuff. They just brought a smile to our face a lot of time.
And while I don’t have anything quite from Australia, I do have a Savannah cat, which has like 10% serval in it. He’s got some wild cat in him, so I feel like I’m kind of getting my Australia fix while I’m back home with my cat Leo.
I Prevail’s True Power is out now
I Prevail – ‘Body Bag’
Further Reading
“We Wanted To Push Our Sound”: I Prevail On New Album ‘Trauma’
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