What becomes an iconoclast the most? CarvedInto Stone sums up what Prong stands for. This is an album slaked in hostility, personal detachment and seethingwith the urban paranoia that’s long been the mark of this sonic triad. It’seleven tracks that don’t merely settle into the New York City-born band’scannon of material that has yielded post-metal classics including Beg ToDiffer and Cleansing. It exceedsit.
“I hate nostalgia,” says mainstay, vocalistand guitarist Tommy Victor whose musical and personal outlook belies hiscurrent Los Angeles environs. “But this record literally has every strand ofProng’s DNA spliced together in a way that feels more exciting than it has insome time.”
Produced and mixed by Steve Evetts(Dillinger Escape Plan, Suicide Silence), Carved Into Stone picks upwhere Prong’s classic albums left off. Opener “Eternal Heat” sets things off at a blistering pace fueled bydrummer Alexei Rodriguez and bassist Tony Campos’ formidable rhythm section.Meanwhile, the likes of “Revenge…Best Served Cold” is absolute, classic Prong:a huge riff slaked with bitter sentiments.
Tommy Victor admits that Carved IntoStone is the first time Prong has taken direction from a producer in thestudio. “It’s also the hardest I’ve ever worked on a record,” he says ofworking with Evetts. “I’m happier with the way it came out more than almostanything I’ve ever done but there were points during it I wanted to kill myselfand everyone around me.”
Prong emerged from the New York City undergroundof the late 80’s, quickly setting themselves apart from the conformist cultureof the city’s hardcore and metal scenes. They were recognized internationallyfor their first two independent releases: Primitive Origins and ForceFed. When Prong’s dalliance with theouter limits of the mainstream acceptance came via Epic Records, it proved moresuccessful than the underground-bred trio ever expected. The band’s “Snap Your Fingers Snap Your Neck”from Cleansing became Prong’s calling card.
“It felt like the world had finally caughtup with us,” says Tommy. Prong’s influence was being felt in the scene aroundthem. Bands from the likes of Pantera to White Zombie to Korn were takingnotice of Prong’s purposeful, creative riffing and making that the template forplatinum selling success. “I wasn’t jealous,” Tommy recalls. “But I could takea royalty check or two.”
At the beginning of the 2000’s, Tommy put Prong aside for a timeto play with Danzig and Ministry. It was a much-needed time for Victor torefocus his energies. When Prong finally twisted itself back into form, theytoured exhaustively both headlining and supporting the likes of Soulfly andFear Factory. Slowly but surely, the songs and ideas that would become CarvedInto Stone began to take form. “Thesongs I was writing felt more like Prong than anything I had written sinceRaven was in the band,” says Tommy, recalling the era when the recentlydeceased ex-Killing Joke bassist Paul Raven was one of his co-conspirators.
Prong’s Long Branch Records/SPV debut CarvedInto Stone isn’t merely another chapter in the band’s many-storied careeror the much clichéd “return to form”. It’s the sound of Tommy Victor andCompany stating exactly who Prong is. Like it or not, they aren’t about to goaway any time soon.