Skillet's 10th full-length album drops this Friday (Aug. 2), and while the Nashville rockers are known for their positivity, the main message of Victorious is that life isn’t always going to be perfect and you’re going to have to fight through some hard times.

In an interview with Loudwire about the new album, frontman John Cooper points to the current tendency in culture to create an illusion that everything is always great and every day is the best day ever.

"We kind of have this thing in culture that we’re telling people that life is going to be so amazing and I think that’s, in my opinion, contributing to the rise in suicide rates, the rise in depression rates," he says. "I think people are getting an idea that life’s going to be something that it’s not. They don’t know that they’re going to have to fight through these battles.”

Victorious has recurring themes of fighting through adversity and not giving up, which fits perfectly with Skillet's first graphic novel, Eden. In the graphic novel, which Cooper describes as The Hunger Games meets The Walking Dead mixed with classic sci-fi, the characters are faced with conflicts such as the cost of one life versus the greater good.

The point is; everyone is faced with difficult times and has to make tough decisions, but even when you might not be happy with the outcome, you can learn and you can change.

"Everything you do isn’t going to be better than the last day," he shares. "You’re going to do things you’re not proud of, and you’re going to be mean to people sometimes and you’re going to have a bad day. Those are the things you need to change."

The message summed up by Cooper: “Life is going to be hard, but you can be victorious in the fight.”

After over 20 years in the music industry, Cooper also has some advice for artists just getting their start. He points to bands he's toured with through the years who were once hard partiers but are now clean and sober and warning the younger bands about the perils of a rock ’n’ roll lifestyle.

"It’s not actually about sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll," he says. "It’s about rock ’n’ roll, and if you get into that lifestyle then it’s going to end very poorly."

It's important to know who you are, he says, because the industry will chew you up and spit you out and the things you find yourself living for can get dark. For Skillet, it’s always been about staying true to who they are.

"I want to be proud of who I am, that’s what I’m trying to say, and if I do what they want, and I sell a whole bunch of records and get really famous, will I actually be proud of what I’ve done or will I just say ‘Man, I wish I could have just done it my way’?"

Watch the full interview with Skillet above. You can pick up your copy of Victorious here or hear the full album on digital streaming services Aug. 2. If you want to snag a copy of their first graphic novel, Eden, you can do that right here. They'll be hitting the road with Alter Bridge in late September, but you can keep up with all their touring and get ticketing information here.