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Never let it be said that Lostprophets are a band that does things by halves.   Never let it be said that they won’t travel to the ends of the earth in pursuit of what they want.   Never let it be said that this is a group that is unwilling to put its money where its guitars are.

In January the Welsh sextet will release ‘The Betrayed’, their fourth studio album. The successor to 2006’s blockbusting Number One ‘Liberation Transmission’ – a set which propelled Lostprophets onto the stages of Britain’s largest indoor arenas – this forthcoming LP sees its creators prove the maxim that if a job is worth doing it is worth doing properly.  Truly, making ‘The Betrayed’ cost the band a great deal.   For one thing, it cost them almost three-quarters of a million dollars.   For another, it cost them two years of their lives.

Was it worth it?

“It was absolutely worth it,” says Ian Watkins, the band’s follically inventive frontman. “This is the best album we’ve made, by a mile.”

Lostprophets, though, were better equipped than most bands to deal with any troubles fate happened to throw their way.   After all, this is a band whose members have known each other since their school days in Pontypridd, South Wales, a group that were friends long before they became bandmates and colleagues.   Through three previous albums – 2000’s ‘fakesoundofprogress’, 2004’s ‘Start Something’ and ‘Liberation Transmission’ in 2006 – the sextet have risen from the clubs of England to the stage of Wembley Arena and the Manchester Evening News Arena.   In the United States, ‘Start Something’ sold more than 700,000 copies, earning its creators a gold disc.   And just this summer, the band headlined the main tent at the Leeds and Reading festivals.    Almost by stealth, the band have grown through the years, both in songwriting skills and success, stacking up a dozen or so top 40 singles and selling 2 million albums over the years.   They have arguably become one of the UK’s biggest rock bands without compromise or flirting with musical fashions, instead sticking to what they believe in and constantly striving to do better – whether writing or playing live.

And now it is time for a new album.   Comprising 11 songs, ‘The Betrayed’ is both Lostprophets rawest and most memorable release to date.   From the apocalyptic groove of opening track ‘If It Wasn’t For Hate We’d Be Dead By Now’, through the pop-tastic jump of ‘For He’s A Jolly Good Felon’, all the way to the rising glory of closing song ‘The Light That Burns Twice As Bright’, this is an album that takes everything the Lostprophets have learned in their decade together and harnesses it in one tightly coiled, whip-cracking package.

“This is what our band should sound like,” says bassist Stuart Richardson, who also produced the album (we’ll get to that).   “No bullshit, no tricks; raw, pissed-off and catchy as fuck.”

‘The Betrayed’ wasn’t an easy album to make though.   The work should have been released in May of 2007, but Lostprophets determination to do things right came at a cost, one that can be measured in both money and time.  The album was originally slated to be produced by John Feldmann – who in the past has worked with Good Charlotte and The Used, to name just two – and many months were spent holed up in Feldmann’s Bel Air studio trying to capture the songs the group had written.  Only thing was, their capture proved elusive and, unhappy with the work they’d recorded, Lostprophets decided to take the tunes and their unfinished album out of Bel Air, and to try and find something new.

The next idea was to work with Bob Rock, the man who had produced Metallica’s ‘Black Album’ as well as ‘Liberation Transmission’, the LP the Prophets were attempting to follow.   Again this proved complicated, and ultimately fruitless; although producer and artists did spend some time recording songs, ultimately Rock and rock band decided not to embark together fully on what would one day become ‘The Betrayed’.  Two up, two down.

Funnily enough, the man who was destined to produce ‘The Betrayed’ – properly produce it, that is, all the way to completion  – was known to the band all along.  In fact, he was in the band.  Step forward bass player Stuart Richardson, a man with muscles like Popeye, who as a child stood with his father on the picket lines during the miners’ strike of 1984 and 1985.  Sound unlikely?  Well, maybe in print.  Not if you listen to the music.

What did Stuart think when he was asked/told that he was producing an album that to date had been beset by nothing but problems?

“I thought Holy Shit,” he says. “I’ve got to follow Bob Rock, thanks a fucking lot. It was like following John Holmes in a dick-measuring contest.”

But seriously…

“I realised I had the lives of my friends in my hands. If the album failed it would be my fault, not theirs.   I was shaking even thinking about it.   But actually it turned out to be a pretty badass fucking moment.”

And a pretty badass fucking album, actually.  ‘The Betrayed’ may have suffered more delays than commuters at Christmas, but if a job is worth doing then it’s worth doing properly. To a man Lostprophets are agreed that if their fourth album wasn’t <<exactly>> to their liking then they wouldn’t have put their name to it, wouldn’t have released it.   How do you know that they’re telling the truth?   Because they spent a fortune on recordings they never used, that’s why.   Because they waited until they had what they wanted before asking the public that they lend their ears.

“People are gonna love this album,” says Ian Watkins. “I absolutely guarantee that. It’s taken some time to arrive but there was no way we were going to put something out that we didn’t love, and that we didn’t believe in. But this time we’ve got it right, and I can’t wait for people to hear it.”

Lostprophets were formed in Pontypridd, South Wales, in 1997. Their line-up is Ian Watkins (vocals), Jamie Oliver (keyboards, turntables, vocals), Stuart Richardson (bass), Mike Lewis (guitars), Lee Gaze (guitars) and Luke Johnson (drums). The Betrayed, their fourth album, will be released in January 2010 through Visible Noise.