The highly-anticipated second album by Michigan-based metalcore band, I Prevail, was released on March 29, 2019. The band, consisting of two vocalists, two guitarists and a drummer, has been through a lot in the last few years. The album called “TRAUMA” explores battles with depression, anxiety and deep psychological/emotional pain. It is comprised of thirteen tracks that contain the signature sound of I Prevail, now combined with some electronics and rapping.

My favorite track on the record is “Paranoid,” track number two. It holds all the genres I previously mentioned and shows large amounts of growth in the band’s overall sound. The song begins with clean vocals, “Something isn’t right, I feel it in my bones, every time I look around, it follows me home, I think I’m paranoid.”

The singer is immediately getting the message across that he is always in his head, thinking people are watching him. He listens to the negative thoughts in his head, which a lot of people suffer from. The song builds into the chorus with a rap/scream vocal part from the second vocalist.

He says, “All this emptiness inside, I can’t fill the void in my mind, sometimes I just wanna die, wish that I could tell you why, is it all inside my head? I just can’t escape the noise, is it all inside my head?” The song then has a sort of “drop” like in EDM music, followed by the introduction of the full band with the chorus.

Another track I really connected with is track number eight, “Hurricane.” Shortly after the album was released, the band also dropped a music video to accompany this song. It was a mini-documentary showing what they went through to get to this point in their career. From being told they would be nothing, to going viral with a cover of a Taylor Swift song and then having their tour bus catch fire and torch all of their belongings. They all went through so much as a band and as individuals with their personal lives. Brian, the clean vocalist, suffers from severe mental health problems and addresses that in the song. “It hit me like a hurricane. It hit me like a tidal wave. And I don’t know why I drown my mind, it got the best of me.”

The last track that needs to be addressed is the heaviest song on the record, “Gasoline.” The first verse has Brian rapping, “Back from the dead to tell you that I’m alive, killed the old way but I survived, f*** the blueprint, I redesign.”

He is saying the band has been through a lot, but they came out the other side in one piece with a new outlook on their lives and their sound. Eric, the unclean vocalist, takes the chorus with guttural, rage-filled lyrics, “Burn it all down, burn it all down, I don’t give a f***, burn it all down, burn it to the ground, feed the flames, go insane, and burn it all down, burn it all down, f*** what they say, f*** everything, light the match, gasoline, kill it all, kill everything, and burn it all down, burn it all down.” There is some serious emotion behind these lyrics. This is coming from someone who is dealing with a lot of pain, which turned into anger that can be directed at anything and everything. I believe we have all been here at some point or another. Nevertheless, if you want a heavy song to bang your head to, this is it.

“TRAUMA” is easily one of my favorite albums I have ever listened to. From the instrumentation, to the vocal styles, to the emotional lyrics, the record is a masterpiece. If you are having a tough time right now, whether it be mentally or emotionally, this is a good piece of music to listen to if you want an outlet of some sort. I hope it helps you like it helped me.