The band Prong has been around since the late 1980s. After putting the band on hold for a major rethink, mainstay Tommy Victor reinvented the combo in 2012 with the album Carved into Stone. Ruining Lives followed in 2014, and in 2015 they released an album of cover songs, called Songs From the Black Hole. X – No Absolutes heralded a major headlining tour. Which brings us to the brand new release, Zero Days, a 14-track relentless statement of the world today. Prong hails from America and incorporates Victor on guitar and vocals, Mike Longworth on bass, and Art Cruz on drums. 2017 sees another major tour, taking in many of the Metal festivals...

Prong is described as an amalgamation of Thrash, Hardcore and Industrial Metal, and I would say that’s pretty accurate on the whole. Many of these small and heavy bands are rooted in a coupling of Punk and Metal. This can go one of two ways: either into Green Day territory or down the path of Grunge/Grindcore. Prong has taken the latter route, and I must say at the outset that it’s not really to my taste. I like all types of Metal, but it has to be melodic. Many of the songs have good guitar intros for the first few seconds but thereafter are overtaken by monotone vocals which seldom if ever vary. Many of the songs sound pretty much the same because there’s no light and darks moments. In other words, although there is plenty of energy, there is no emotion… so you just don’t care. Perhaps that is exactly what the music is trying to portray.

Things look up occasionally with a melodic guitar break or cleanly-voiced chorus. 'Divide and Conquer' is a prime example of this, but it doesn’t occur any more than a maximum of three times over the fourteen songs. I realise this is an established group whose material often garners rave reviews, and gets them invited to festivals, but I’m afraid this interpretation of the genre just doesn’t pull me along for the ride.

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Ty Power