Wow. What just happened? Talk about an album handing your ass to you and leaving you with two black eyes to boot.
Prong is back with Carved Into Stone, an album that is almost like Prong’s version of Slayer. Hard charge and no bullshit from “Eternal Heat” all the way through to the caveman power stomp of “Reinvestigate”, this one is a must have. Power Of The Damager was an amazing release for Prong, really setting the band back on its’ feet, but Carved Into Stone is an even more serious blessing for fans. If this is the last Prong album ever (hopefully not, but…) it would be a capstone that distills Prong to the raw essence, inarguably showing all the skill Victor wields as a guitarist and aggressive songwriter.
Prong’s Tommy Victor has been a metal lifer for ages, a pioneering veteran with calloused fingertips, a grim look in his eye and countless shows under his belt. As the driving force behind his classic Industrial/Thrash/Hardcore/Alternative crossover act, he has inspired everyone from Korn to Demon Hunter to Ministry (the last of which Victor actually plays in now). But while Tommy has kicked ass of late on the latest Ministry releases, collaborating on a Soulfly song or the crucial recent Danzig release Deth Red Sabaoth, it is Prong which will always be the most “Tommy” (not a Who reference) of anything Victor plays on.
I recently wrote a piece for another site on Mindless Self Indulgence and mentioned how they had made a huge dent on pop culture even though no one gives them credit. Some keyboard jockey on a Facebook thread snarked at that claim that they are “underground” and no one knows them so they aren’t influential. Way to miss the point! Get this…Prong (or Crowbar) will always be underground, for example, and yet the world musical landscape would be so much different without their contributions. You don’t have to be the one who gets all the glory to be the one ripped off a lot by successors.
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