### Prong: Carved into stone

#### 07/06/12 || gk

Formed in 1986, the band released what is arguably a crossover classic in their debut, “Force Fed”. They would go on to occupy a slightly left of centre place in the thrash genre before achieving a minor hit with the album “Cleansing” in the 90s which left behind much of their punk and hardcore roots for a trendy groove metal outing. This was followed by Victor wanting to sound like Killing Joke and releasing the completely horrible “Rude Awakening” which was some sort of industrial rock.

Now, some 25 years after the band originally formed, Prong is on their second comeback trail and 8th album “Carved into Stone”. Victor’s the only original member left and he’s got Tony Campos from Static X on bass and Alexei Rodriguez from 3 Inches of Blood on drums for company.

The album starts with “Eternal Heat” and its groove metal riff is just a big reminder of the 90s. It’s a dated and weak sounding opening to the album and Victor’s vocals don’t help matters at all. He sounds tired and worn down pretty much right through this album. “Keep on Living in Pain” has a painfully annoying chorus where Victor keeps going on with the refrain “keep on living in pain… so what? Keep on living in pain… so what?” and it’s kind of embarrassing to listen to. “Revenge… best served cold” tries to go for a catchy “Cleansing” feel but sounds like self-imitation at best and just plain awkward in its worst moments. Elsewhere on the album, it seems Victor’s obsession with Killing Joke is still a strong theme when it comes to his song writing and “Put Myself to Sleep” has a vocal line and melody that sounds like a desperate imitation of what Jazz Coleman and his boys do but with none of the catchiness and power of Killing Joke. Instead, here it’s a tired sounding song and when Victor tries to be all melodic and clean with his singing, it’s pretty fucking horrible. It’s quite ironic that while Killing Joke has had a successful comeback and has been kicking serious ass for the last 3 albums, Prong sound old and useless. Title song “Carved into Stone” drops the tempo and slows things down to reasonable effect. It could have been a decent song but Victor’s vocals again try to channel Coleman in the verse and it just falls flat.

I really don’t see any reason for Prong to still exist in 2012. The grooves sound half hearted, Victor was never a great vocalist and now sounds actively bad in places and he still hasn’t gotten over his Killing Joke fixation. Doesn’t help that the grooves are generally weak and the riffs feel like leftovers from the 90s. This is some pretty weak groove metal that falls somewhere between “Cleansing” and “Rude Awakening” so if you like either of those albums then you’ll probably find something to like here. Prong should have called it a day after “Rude Awakening” but they didn’t and lo and behold, we have a new album. Is anyone listening?

- Information
- Released: 2012
- Label: Branch Records
- Website: Prong MySpace
- Band
- Tommy Victor: vocals, guitars
- Tony Campos: bass
- Alexei Rodriguez: drums

- Tracklist
- 01. Eternal Heat
- 02. Keep on Living in Pain
- 03. Ammunition
- 04. Revenge… Best Served Cold
- 05. State of Rebellion
- 06. Put Myself to Sleep
- 07. List of Grievances
- 08. Carved Into Stone
- 09. Subtract
- 10. Path of Least Resistance
- 11. Reinvestigate