Brian Burkheiser Breaks Silence on I Prevail Split, Rallies Support for Band

Back in May, it was revealed that I Prevail had split with co-vocalist Brian Burkheiser and the musician has now addressed his exit in a lengthy series of Instagram Stories posts.

In the time since the split, I Prevail have revealed their first music without Burkheiser. Eric Vanlerberghe, who had provided the band's rough vocals, is now delivering clean vocals for the group as well, while guitarist Dylan Bowman has stepped up with additional vocal assistance for the group.

Their first new song, "Violent Nature," found Vanlerberghe delivering rough vocals as had been his role in the band throughout, while the follow up, "Into Hell," really highlighted his clean vocal skills. Both songs are expected to be part of the band's next album.

What I Prevail Said About Their Split With Brian Burkheiser

In mid-May, I Prevail issued their statement announcing the split with Burkheiser. The group called it a case of "mutually parting ways" and added that it was "a difficult decision, but we believe it is the right one and we are all grateful for the 10 epic years we shared together."

They expressed their wishes of nothing but success and happiness for Burkheiser in his future endeavors, before revealing to fans how they planned to move forward without Burkheiser as part of their dynamic.

What Brian Burkheiser Has Now Said About His Split With I Prevail

In a series of posts through his Instagram Stories, Burkheiser confesses to communication issues within the band and a "falling out" with the group. But he uses most of his postings to urge the band's fanbase not to be divided over sides and to rally support for the group and asking fans to sell out their current shows.

He also shares his appreciation for fellow singer Eric Vanlerberghe while posting a snippet of "Into Hell," thanks the band's crew and speaks to the difficulty in maintaining relationships in a band while calling for a potential mending of fences while showing they can get past any differences.

His full statement can be read below:

I will change the music industry forever. There are no rules to this shit. You can be whatever the fuck you wanna be. But if you don't live your truth, don't go blaming anyone else. Someone taught me that this week and I have run with that mindset ever since.
I had to do this for my family. I couldn't take this anymore. I am meant to be here. I'm just gonna keep posting music till I go to bed. But tomorrow everyone's gonna wake the fuck up and treat each other kindly. Every single member of I Prevail is a good person.
We were all just kids. None of us knew what the fuck we were doing. It all happened so fast. There is no beef. I love every single one of those guys whether they know it or not. But yeah, shit did get tough along the way and I do think that I didn't deserve how things went down. But it doesn't mean they are bad people. We're all just going thru shit. Everyone is trying to feed the family. The only thing I will say is that I did try to communicate more and I wish that they would've talked to me more. But if it took coming down to this to teach the world this lesson then I'm OK with that because I want to rekindle my friendships with those guys one day.
Whether you know it or not, I am proud of you Eric. You went through a lot of things the world doesn't know about. I want to see you. I miss you.
Maybe I fucked up tonight. Honestly, I have really no idea what I've done, but I'm just trying to be as vulnerable as I can be. I'm trying to prove to the world that any relationship can be mended. I guess I'm trying to have my My Name Is Earl moment. I have no idea all of this stuff was going to happen two days ago. I had no idea that I was going to post Instagram Stories. But I mentally broke. The truth is this shit has had me so mentally unwell for so long.
If anybody goes and talks shit to I Prevail [at] their show today, I will be so upset. You better give them the best fucking show of their lives.
Also I love every single member of the I Prevail crew. Those guys work their fucking asses off. Today I want all of you guys to please give them a big ass round of applause for everything they did for me over the 10 years in this band.
I'll be honest. I had a falling out with the dudes. A lot of things happened over 10 years and I'm sure they have different perspectives on certain things. But this shit does happen in life. But divorces normally happen due to lack of communication. I think we both could've improved on that over the course of time as we got bigger and bigger.
I just want all of us to go on and live our lives. I want all our families to be happy. I love all of their significant others and children. Let's just do the shit guys, let's all change the industry and show everybody that we can get past it. Maybe it took our band to show the world that relationships are fucking hard and the music industry is even harder.
Please go sell this tour out. There are so many fucking amazing bands on this. The truth is it's not selling great because it's in amphitheaters. But these bands deserve to be treated like fucking pop stars. If I had one last wish before I turned into scatterbrain, it would be that you guys sell this out for me and make sure every single one those bands goes and blows up.
Dave Shapiro was I Prevail's manager. Dom Mackie is a good person. He co-managed with Dave. Dome was one of my best friends and I have talked to him in a long time. I know it was take a hell of a lot of burden off him if you guys sold this tour out.