Album Review: Prong - State of Emergency
Reviewed by Dan Barnes
If you’re of a certain age I think we can all agree that, for whatever reason, New York City’s Prong have never been lauded with the praise they fully deserve. Other than a five-year hiatus between 1997 and 2002, Tommy Victor has been leading his ever-changing rota of bandmates on an alternative journey through the heavier side of the music scene and popping out some corking collections in the process.
Across a dozen full-length releases, from 1989’s Force Fed, with its forward-thinking crunching riffs and alternate styling – this was the age of Glam Band, you must remember – to the glorious twelfth in 2017, Zero Days, Prong have constantly added fresh layers of sound, be that groove metal, industrial, hardcore or some good old-fashioned thrashing. If you want a handle at the range of the band’s scope, check out the covers record, Songs from the Black Hole, which includes tracks by artists as diverse as Discharge, The Sisters of Mercy and Butthole Surfers, among others.
It’s been six years since the last record, but just as you start to lose hope that Prong would be back anytime soon: Bam! they drop album number thirteen in the form of State of Emergency.
The new record is in very much the same vein as the post-2012 releases, taking what made 1994’s Cleansing so good and ratcheting those up to ten – or eleven, if it goes that high. First two singles, Non-Existent and The Descent see Prong at some of their confrontational best, but not without loading the tracks full of earworms. The Descent is filled with crunchy riffs and rapid-fire thrashing and what Tommy describes as an omnipresent techno-noise guitar sound.
The title track and Breaking Point both have the sound of New York City’s streets about them, leaning into the Hardcore traits through edgy guitar and the vocal calls. Light Turns Black hides its NYHC sound and two-stepping beats within the guise of a typical Prong song, following it with the speedy gallop of Who Told Me? to cover its tracks.
As State of Emergency enters its second half, so too does the songwriting take on a more eclectic view. Obeisance goes for a more alternative sound to play off the fat, bombing guitars; Compliant feels thoroughly modern with its juxtaposition of disjointed verse and fat chorus.
Disconnected come over like a Nineties alt-rocker, infused with post-punk sensibilities and Back (NYC) is fast and furious and sees Tommy musing it sounds like Jimmy Page playing through Dimebag’s gear and voiced by Henry Rollins.
If that combination isn’t enough of a head-scratcher, how about a cover of Rush’s… well, anything really would be suitable to finish that sentence, but Prong go with Working Man. Simple and to the point, this anthemic number was a mainstay of Rush’s set to the end – and the last song the three-piece ever played live for an audience. Shorn of Geddy’s vocals and Alex guitar, Prong represent the song in a more sludgy manner, lending it a Black Sabbath sound, yet not distracting from the version in iota.
The Zero Days’ rhythm section of Mike Longworth and Art Cruz have been replaced by Steve Evetts and Griffin McCarthy on bass and drums respectively, but Prong is Tommy Victor’s project, always has been, and when he not playing in Danzig, Ministry or Tapeworm – or handcuffed to a radiator in the Editor-in-Chief’s basement – it’s always a joy to see anything from this band. Hopefully a tour will be imminent as soon as, but only if, the EIC can ‘find’ the key.
