(Reuters) – Be afraid! The Prodigy, the British dance band who swept the world with their violentlyrics, scary videos and techno-punk style a decade ago are back with a bang.

The London-based trio have returned from a spell in the wildernessfully re-charged and with a new album "Invaders Must Die" which drawsheavily on their early rave roots.

Technically, they never went away but the road back to recordingtogether again on their fifth studio album "Invaders" has been a longand hard one.

"It's a misconception that the band broke up, but we don'tcare," Liam Howlett, theProdigy's producer and main writer, told Reuters in an interview in Tokyo.

"Around 2003 was a turbulent time for the band. Me and(vocalist) Keith (Flint) weren't speaking for about a year.

"Thenew album's abrasive and uplifting. We didn't plan it tobe upliftingbecause we're quite moody people. The Prodigy's hedonistic. That'sjusthow it came out," he added.

The multi-platinum 1997 album "The Fat of the Land" had transformedthe Prodigy into one of the world's biggest acts with smash hits suchas "Firestarter"and "Breathe."

Their success, and notoriety, reached a climax with thecontroversial single "Smack My Bitch Up" but the cracks beganto appear after a period of extensive world tours.

Havingsold some 16 million records globally -- a figure unparalleledby adance band -- Howlett dropped Flint and fellow vocalist Maxim Reality for their next album, released in2004.

"AlwaysOutnumbered,Never Outgunned" earned mixed reviews butFlint, he of the punk-rockhairstyle, nose piercings and maze of tattoos,conceded Howlett'sbombshell had stung.

"NEED THE FUEL"

"Whenyou have had the high of being on stage, especially ina band likeourselves, I can't help but search for that buzz," he said,his featuressofter without the fearsome eyeliner.

"It'snot the admiration I need, it's not the qualificationI'm relevant. It'sthat fuel. You can try to find it in drugs or whatever. I'vetriedeverything.

"Not like Pete Doherty --he's definitely the proper rock 'n'roll disaster. I've given up alldrugs and drink now. I realize that this bandis my drug. Nothing makesme higher than this."

Wedgedtogether on a sofa in their Tokyo hotel suite, no hint ofanimositylingers between the now middle-aged men, who first met in the late1980s.

"Ourethics and our beliefs are the same," said Maximfrom behind darkglasses. "From day one after 'Fat of The Land' blew up,we still goabout business in the same way."

The band bristle at the suggestion they had lost their edge afterhitting ground zero in 2003.

"Wenever lost it," said Maxim with a flick of hisdreadlocks. "This is aresult of the last five years, building up to thispoint. 'Invaders MustDie' is what's come out of that."

LastThursday's high-octane gig at an intimate Tokyo venue beforethe albumrelease later this month demonstrated that the Prodigy have lost noneoftheir fire or creative edge.

Their new songs triggered as much moshpit pin-ballingand crowd-surfing as the old electro-punk classics.

"That'srespect," nods Maxim, like Flint looking farless hell-raising than hison-stage persona. "It just goes to show they'rekiller tunes."

Flint suddenly jumps from the sofa and picks up a chair -- whichthankfully he sits on.

"I know I'm in the best band in the world," he said.

"When we walk onto that stage I'm not feeling like I'm ruledby any other band.

"Iknow that I'm with the best people I can be, and myarsenal of soundsand songs and tracks is as good as it could possibly be.Don't be in aband unless you feel that."

(Editing by Miral Fahmy)