By John Earls

"The whole album took 18 months. But the first six months was going through some heavy partying."

The Prodigy are back with the brutal old-school rave noise of new album Invaders Must Die. With Keith and Maxim absent from their last album, it's the first "proper" Prodigy LP for 12 years.

"It feels like Fat only came out last week," insists Liam Howlett. "In a band, you're in a time capsule."

The reason for the partying was partly to celebrate having the three members working together on a new album again.

"It's a myth that we weren't talking around Always Outnumbered," says Liam, of their previous album in 2004.

"True, we didn't talk for a year. But we'd patched things up a year before Always came out - we discussed it, and agreed that was the album we needed to make, a more DJ type of record."

But Liam admits that the absence of Keith and Maxim on Always Outnumbered in favour of guest singers like Juliette Lewis confused people.

"I can see why people found it confusing," he admits. "It's a different record to the one that people wanted from us after so long away.

"But then we toured, and released the singles album. So we were totally ready to make a record together again."

The partying coincided with the band leaving their old label XL, before signing a new deal with Cooking Vinyl.

"Once we signed the new deal, I thought, 'We need to kick into a groove now,'" says Liam, 37.

"We'd done about 25 ideas by then, but there were only five good tunes there. One of those was Colours, the only punk rock song that worked from when I tried writing with our live guitarist."

The turning point was writing the noisy rave anthem Warriors' Dance.

"We only did it as a song for the live shows," recalls Liam. "It shines a light on what we're about - as a reminder to ourselves, partly.

"Then we realised we wanted to make a record to represent what we're about again. We didn't want it to be retro, but to represent the best parts of the band and our roots in rave culture."

Despite the renewed friendships, Liam cheerfully admits he's still the dictator when it comes to their music.

"Democracy in a band doesn't really work," he laughs. "Someone's got to take the reins over the direction, and I'm the Noel Gallagher of the band.

"That doesn't mean other people's ideas go untouched. For one thing, I can't write lyrics, so every word you hear is Keith's or Maxim's."

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It feels like Fat only came out last week," insists Liam Howlett. "In a band, you're in a time capsule."

Oh dear god...

Oh dear god...

By John Earls

"When we write an album that connects at the live shows, and features all three of us, that's when we come together. That works."

The Prodigy are back with Invaders Must Die, a rave album so brutal it's their most thrillingly basic since their Experience debut in 1992.

"I don't know how we'll sound in the future," says Liam Howlett. "I don't think any further than next month."

As the benevolent dictator, Liam admits he doesn't give Keith Flint and Maxim a totally free hand in their vocals.

"Keith's Keith on our records," say Liam. "That's how I want him to sound, and he's happy with that. He doesn't want to properly sing on our records.

"That doesn't mean we don't progress. Maxim's really pushed his boundaries on Piranha, and he's brought more melody to the table this time too."

Liam believes that Maxim is the only member who has to play a part when it comes to their Prodigy personas.

"He's quieter in real life," says Liam, 37. "He says he goes through a transformation to get on stage.

"Really, we can't do anything else. If you asked me to make a different kind of music, it'd be fun, but I don't know if I could do it. This is the type of s*** we like!"

Admitting it was frustrating waiting to release the album some months after it was made, how does Liam feel about the more instant download culture?

"At first, I was against it," he says.

"It used to be that we'd write a tune, then play it at whatever gig we had on that Saturday. Downloads have stopped that - a tune develops over a few weeks but, by then, people have scrutinised the version from that first gig."

Invaders Must Die ends with Stand Up, the most celebratory Prodigy song yet and a contrast to the rest of the LP.

"At the early raves, it always seemed like the DJ would wind it down," Liam recalls. "Instead of leaving you with a hardcore track, he'd send you home with something Balaeric to make you feel up.

"Stand Up fits that vibe. It's a headbang album for 45 minutes, then you get a warm blanket at the end."

With a tour starting next month, how does it feel to be on stage nearly 20 years after The Prodigy began?

"The buzz is exactly the same," insists Liam. "We've always had a pretty diverse range of fans from the start. Even in the Jilted days, Keith would go 'Did you see the mad punks?'

"When I see Keith and Maxim running about, I think to myself 'Good, glad to see you're doing your job properly!'"

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