Album review: I Prevail – Violent Nature

There comes a time in a band’s career where they’ll find themselves at a crossroads. For I Prevail, that happened with announcement of co-vocalist Brian Burkheiser parting ways with the Michigan metallers. Their fourth album, Violent Nature, sees Eric Vanlerberghe become the sole frontman, taking responsibility for both clean and unclean vocals, a transition he performs seamlessly. The result is a new chapter of rage, vulnerability and a band insistent on providing a ferocious intensity.

Right from the start, Synthetic Soul ushers in this era with a creeping, industrial tinge, veering into almost Nine Inch Nails territory in its mechanical ambience, before a brutal eruption. When Eric flips from clean, calm vocals to guttural rage, you know they mean business. NWO hears him spit venom, before a dirty riff flies in behind with precision, and I Prevail march on with an assault of metalcore brilliance.

By the time Annihilate Me comes around, things are a full inferno. It’s one of those tracks that feels painfully honest, with Eric counselling himself through the cutdowns, pushing back even when every fibre of you is on fire, with a hard-hitting catharsis. In this, Violent Nature may well be their heaviest offering to date. It’s uncompromising.

They don’t abandon melody, though. Rain shows tenderness and heart, the kind of clean vocal moments that let you breathe before the chaos returns. Into Hell balances melody and maelstrom, deceptively light at first before dragging you into its darker gravity. And then comes closer Stay Away. Emotionally raw and bordering on ambient, it drifts into Deftones territory with its blend of heaviness and atmospheric tones. There’s still pain, but also defiance.

Violent Nature might be the most honest record I Prevail have given us in their quick rise. Having come through big change, they’re embracing their new reality, and delivering on their promise to be one of the finest metalcore acts of their time.

Verdict: 4/5

For fans of: Bad Omens, Deftones, Bring Me The Horizon

Violent Nature is released on September 19 via Fearless

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