The new supergroup Prophets Of Rage has been all the, well, rage recently, as the members of Rage Against The Machine, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill have incited fans into a musical frenzy ahead of a major summer tour. The band has played three shows to date, but has a full summer tour and a performance protesting the Republican National Convention on the schedule.

In a new interview with Wall Street Journal, RATM guitarist Tom Morello spoke about the band’s purpose. He says  that “the cold embers of Rage Against the Machine are now the burning fire of Prophets of Rage. Where Rage Against the Machine lives, is this summer in these songs that we are playing.” It’s an exciting time to be a fan, though longtime Rage Against The Machine heads have certainly expressed their disappointment over Zack De La Rocha’s absence.

“We have nothing but the greatest love and honor and respect for Zack De La Rocha, the brilliant lyricist of Rage Against the Machine, who is working on his own music, which I’m sure will be fantastic – he’s a great artist in his own right. But where you’re going to hear Rage Against the Machine is in Prophets of Rage.” 

Full Audio From Prophets Of Rage’s Debut Concert Has Emerged

Morello went on to hint at why De La Rocha isn’t involved. “At this crucial historic moment [US election], you know Martin Luther King famously said: ‘There’s no hotter place in hell than for people who remain neutral during times of moral conflict.’ This is a time of great moral conflict and we just basically said, ‘Hey, we have to do this now. We have to play these songs, they speak to this moment in this time, we have to cause a ruckus, during our North American campaign this year. Raise your hand if you’re in.’”

Morello continued, saying, “The people that raised their hands were myself, Timmy C [the bassist], Brad Wilk from Rage Against the Machine, Chuck D and B-Real, so that’s our band – and DJ Lord from Public Enemy as well, who’s a DJ and a fantastic turntablist.” Assumedly, De La Rocha did not raise his hand, though Morello has made it clear in the past that he was invited to participate (and still is).

The guitarist also spoke about the group’s interest in recording a few tracks before hitting the road. “We hope to do some recording and release music before we go out on tour… It definitely won’t be a full-length album, but we’ve got some… While the tour will be exploring, deeply, the catalogs of Rage, Public Enemy and Cypress Hill, we’ve got a new song or two that we want to record before we go out on the road.”

Prophets of Rage’s tour proper starts on August 19th, and you can see their full schedule here.

[H/T CoS]