Prong has a new album, and Tommy Victor gave it the band's own name. Prong lands on November 6 as the band's first record for Napalm Records, and the second single, New Commission, is out today. After nearly four decades, a self titled record is a statement. Victor is treating this one as a reset, with a new label, faster and heavier songs and bigger hooks.
Eleven songs and two extras
The official tracklist opens with The Banner and New Commission, then runs through The Uprising, Uncertain Truth, Fear The Sun, Commonsense Resolution, Doomed World, Proportionate Response, Transgression and Simulated Drowning before closing on Our Continuance. Two bonus tracks follow, Out of Body and Cruel Summer.
The label's description gives a sense of the range. The Banner pairs thrash with big open choruses. New Commission pushes the speed up again. The Uprising brings back the industrial side with textured synths over a two step beat, Uncertain Truth leans melodic, and Fear The Sun is straight New York hardcore. Our Continuance ends the record slow and heavy, with swelling synths under the chorus.
Who made it
The credits are lean. Victor plays guitar, sings and produced the album himself, with Tyler Joseph on drums. Billy Pfister recorded it at Westfall Recording in New York, and Andy Sneap mixed and mastered it at Backstage Studios in Derbyshire. Jens Reinhold made the cover: a white flag with the band's red trident logo flying over a grainy black and white Manhattan. It is a fitting image for a band that came out of CBGB.
Why the name fits
The label's history of the band starts at CBGB in the late 1980s, when Prong came up next to Gorilla Biscuits, Madball, Sick Of It All and Biohazard. What set Prong apart was the mix. Hardcore aggression, thrash riffing, a groove you could move to and, by the mid 1990s, a full industrial edge. That last part came into focus on Cleansing, the 1994 album that the band's own site is still celebrating. Terry Date produced it, and the lineup included former Killing Joke members Paul Raven on bass and Ted Parsons on drums, with John Bechdel on keyboards and programming. Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck is still the song most people know.
The label credits Prong with laying groundwork for groove metal, industrial metal and crossover thrash, and The Uprising on the new record shows that industrial thread is still part of the plan. It ties the band to the scene we mapped in our industrial music starter guide. If you want more of that world, our ranking of every Ministry album is the place to go next.
Formats
Napalm is releasing the album as a gatefold LP in black, Inkspot Cristallo red and a white label edition, along with a CD digisleeve and a digital version. Physical copies are on the official order link, and The Banner video is on the Napalm Records YouTube channel.
Why it matters
This one is Surfacing. Most bands this far into their careers are coasting on the old records. Prong is releasing a self titled album 36 years after Beg to Differ and calling it a new start. Industrial metal is having a moment, and one of the bands that helped invent it wants to be heard as a current act. Start with The Banner, then New Commission, and on November 6 you can decide whether Victor is right.
More like this: browse every related post in our Industrial Music Hub.
