There is a price to pay for being the first at anything. PRONG have been carving their own brutal route since their formation only to see their distinctive sound borrowed, perverted and in some instances flat out stolen. With 1994’s landmark album Cleansing, PRONG cemented their reputation as leaders of the burgeoning industrial metal hardcore crossover movement. That album showcased a sharper yet more accessible sound with such MTV staples as the infectious “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” and “Broken Peace”. The former of which became an MTV buzz clip and was very well received by the two most important critics of that era: Beavis & Butthead.
The release of 1996’s Rude Awakening exposed PRONG’s songwriting prowess and many still say it was a victim of being too far ahead of its time. Rude Awakening paved the way for such artists as Static-X and Slipknot, drawing from many sources to create a new format for heavy guitar driven rock.
After a seven-year hiatus PRONG returned with a new line-up and a new album, releasing Scorpio Rising in 2003. “I had to do something, no matter what it was” states mainman Tommy Victor. “Looking back, I don’t feel like it was an appropriate release under the PRONG moniker. I feel like the best is yet to come.”
Victor spent the last year splitting his time writing and touring with MINISTRY and writing the new PRONG album, using that time to hone the new PRONG material with a razorlike intensity.
At this very moment PRONG are recording their staggeringly heavy new album Power of the Damager, set for a fall release through Al Jourgenson of MINISTRY’s label 13th Planet Records. The new album showcases an aggressive call to arms, blending the neck-snapping riffs the band is known for along with an even heavier approach to the hook and infusing that with an honest speed and aggression that lacks in so many newer acts. PRONG have returned to doing what they do best, and yet somehow it feels like something new all over again.
