I PREVAIL's ERIC VANLERBERGHE Explains How Collaboration With Singer AMIRA ELFEKY On 'Paradise' Single Came Together

In a new interview with The Mistress Carrie Podcast, I PREVAIL vocalist Eric Vanlerberghe spoke about the band's upcoming single, "Paradise", which will be released this coming Friday, June 26. Eric stated about the track (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "As of now, it's a standalone song that we wrote after we finished [the latest I PREVAIL album] 'Violent Nature'. We just started writing again."

He continued: "It's been great, the last few years, with Jon [Eberhard], our bassist. He's also our producer. And instead of going on the road for six months and then taking a break, and then going out for another group of time and then going, 'Okay, you know what? We gotta sit down for a few months to write a record,' the last few years has been the first times that we've been able to go, like, 'Hey, we got three days off on this tour,' like, 'Hey, let's go rent a, a studio,' or 'Let's go rent an Airbnb or a bigger hotel that we can just sit and write in.' And when we're off tour, it's, like, 'Okay, we got a couple of weeks here. Let's just start writing.' And after releasing 'Violent Nature', shortly after, we just started writing again. And so we didn't have that long separation of creating. And, yeah, 'Paradise', the single, is one of those songs that we were, like, 'Let's just start creating again,' and 'Let's collab with artists. Let's reach out to different artists that we like,' whether they've been around forever, we listened to them forever, or they're just starting out and we wanna give them a platform 'cause we like their stuff and like their music and energy.' So, yeah, it's one of those songs that we started writing right after 'Violent Nature' and teamed up with someone that we thought would be cool on it. And here we are."

Vanlerberghe also talked in more detail about "Paradise", which is a collaboration with the Los Angeles-based nu-metal/alt-rock songstress Amira Elfeky. Regarding how powerful Elfeky sounds on the track, Eric said: "I was taken aback [when I first heard her singing on it], but not because I didn't expect it. It was better than I could imagine. I've only heard the little bits of music she's got out so far. And so when we went to the studio, Jon, Steve [Menoian, I PREVAIL guitarist] and I went to... We got to an Airbnb the day before, just started working on a little bit of an instrumental, and when we got in the studio with her, we were, like, 'Hey, we can start with something completely ground up, brand new or we got this, like, rough idea for an instrumental.' And we showed it to her, and she's, like, 'Yeah, that.' And we're, like, 'Are you sure? We can start fresh.' And she said, 'No, no, no, I wanna work on that.' Sick. So we, we started working on it, and we had the idea of going back and forth, back and forth, clean, whatever you wanna call it, the melodic to the harsh vocals. And I knew she had it in her. I knew she can can do the harsh vocals and scream. And she gets in the booth and does it, and then she's, like, 'What do you think? Like this or this?' I was, like, 'You're crushing it. You're blowing me away. You're crushing it. Just keep doing what feels good, and we can go back and tweak it.' And then by the end of the session, it was, like, 'Nah, this is it. I don't wanna touch any of it. You crushed it.'"

Asked if the plan is for I PREVAIL to focus on releasing standalone singles going forward or if there will be more full-length albums in the future, Eric said: "This probably won't be a part of anything like a new record. But, yeah, we'll see what comes of the next couple months. Maybe we'll do a deluxe [version of 'Violent Nature'], maybe we'll just do a little EP of a couple things that are all maybe just for streaming.

"I'm always the guy that's, like, 'No, it's gotta be a record. We gotta have a record, a full-length piece of art.' And I feel like I'm one of the guys that's in the band, like, 'No, man, I don't wanna do a single. It's gotta feel like a body of work.' And I just don't know if that's true anymore," Eric said. "I don't think bands need to absolutely do albums. But I'm not knocking that. Maybe we do continue just to keep doing full-length records. But it's always an interesting conversation to be, like, well, if this song is just a single and it doesn't really fit the vibe of the next record, but it just feels too good not to release it, then what do you do? Do you just sit on it? No, you'd rather wanna have it out. So, yeah, I don't know. I don't know what this ends up. Maybe it'll be a deluxe. Maybe it'll be a collection of songs that just lives on its own. But I guess we'll see soon."

Brian Burkheiser had handled the clean vocals in I PREVAIL since the band's formation but was forced to step away from the group's touring activities due to his battle with Eagle's syndrome, a condition associated with the elongation of the styloid process or calcification of the stylohyoid ligament, clinically characterized by throat and neck pain, radiating into the ear. In Burkheiser's absence, co-vocalist/growler Vanlerberghe had handled the bulk of the singing in I PREVAIL, with the help of guitarist Dylan Bowman. On May 15, 2025, the band announced it had parted ways with Burkheiser after 10 years together.

"Any type of, for lack of better words, a breakup, it's a struggle. It's tough to go through," Vanlerberghe told Australia's Blunt about the split with Burkheiser. "But we've just been focused on the music and focused on the fans and making sure that we're out and still playing these shows, playing these songs and continue to write music that people can relate to. The first tour or two it was a learning curve to go out there and to be the only guy running the show. And it's been a learning experience, but overall it's been fairly smooth."

In October 2024, I PREVAIL released an expanded edition of its 2022 album "True Power", featuring one new song and three reimagined tracks. The updated version included the new single "Hate This Song", the band's collaborative track with ALL TIME LOW, along with reimagined versions of the album singles "Bad Things", "There's Fear In Letting Go" and "Deep End".

Rising to an arena level and receiving two Grammy nominations — "Best Rock Album" for "Trauma", and "Best Metal Performance" for "Bow Down" — I PREVAIL saw its "Hurricane" single top Billboard's Mainstream Rock Airplay chart in 2020, officially the top song on U.S. rock radio at the time. A number of their singles have since been certified gold and platinum, and they have been praised by press far and wide, including Forbes, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter and NPR.

Photo credit: Reilly Clark