Prophets of Rage unleash new single 'Heart Afire,' and they are angry as ever
The 2016 presidential elections sparked a wave of come-backs among bands that were otherwise dormant, sparking a revolution of protest music. One of the most promising acts at that time was Prophets of Rage, a politically charged supergroup comprised of members from three seething bands acclaimed for their spitfire rage and satire - bassist Tim Commerford, guitarist Tom Morello, and drummer Brad Wilk of Rage Against the Machine, DJ Lord and Chuck D from Public Enemy and B-Real from Cypress Hill.
Together, they proclaimed themselves as an "elite task force of revolutionary musicians determined to confront this mountain of election year bullsh*t, and confront it head-on with Marshall stacks blazing." Indeed, with their first EP 'The Party's Over' that dropped the same year, Prophets of Rage lived up to the promise. The EP saw a mix of the two bands' works, reworked slightly for the new crew. Tracks like 'Shut 'Em Down' (Public Enemy) and 'No Sleep 'til Cleveland' were absolutely seething protest anthems that got the crowds raging while the supergroup was on tour.
Prophets followed the EP with their self-titled debut album in 2017. Although the album fell a little flat and didn't live up to the hype, it was definitely still on track with a heavy helping of ferocious, politically charged anthems. Perhaps it was just the Prophets dipping their toes into the pool before diving in.
Over the weekend (July 6), Prophets of Rage unleashed their latest offering 'Heart Afire' and just one listen is enough to confirm that the Prophets are back and as angry as ever. The single arrives just a week after the group confirmed that they have finished recording their yet-to-be-titled second studio album.
'Heart Afire' flaunts some intricate guitar work by Morello, mixing up outright furious distortion-heavy riffs with his signature tremolo and wah-wah sounds. Meanwhile, Chuck D and B-Real accentuate the seething riffs with a heavily constrained, clinical spit-fire verse chorus assualt.
There aren't too many details about the band's new album yet, but recently in an interview with KaaosTV, bassist Tim Commerford and drummer Brad Wilk noted that the group’s forthcoming, as-yet-untitled album features 13 tracks that take on “new territory, new sounds.”
"It’s a different direction. It’s not the same and I love that," said Commerford. "We grew up listening to bands that made records and you were waiting at the record store to hear. That’s the way I feel we’re doing it. We’re growing and creating and going into new territory and I feel really good about it."