New York’s alternative metal veterans PRONG are back — and with their triumphant Napalm Records debut. Their pummeling new single “Fear The Sun” honors their home city, inciting classic pit violence of the CBGB variety. Legendary frontman Tommy Victor‘s lyrics are forked and biting.
About “Fear The Sun”, Tommy states: “I think we went back into time on this song. It’s a modernized version of the groove metal basics PRONG laid a foundation for back with ‘Beg To Differ’. Lyrically ‘Fear The Sun’ reflects upon living with no seasonal changes, metaphorically.”
In its nearly four decades of domination, PRONG has remained a respected force in the scene, gigging doggedly around the world — becoming mainstays at seminal festivals like Wacken Open Air, Alcatraz and Brutal Assault — and unleashing a steady stream of classic albums dominating TV, radio, and streaming throughout their tenure.
Honoring the band’s legacy, “Prong” packs 11 galvanizing haymakers, encompassing elements of industrial, thrash, alternative rock, and, of course, New York hardcore.
Victor previously said about the upcoming LP: “This could be the best PRONG album to date. It’s definitely the best-sounding PRONG album ever, with the incredible Andy Sneap mixing and mastering it! This record represents a new lease on life for PRONG with a new label, a fresh attitude with faster and heavier songs, bigger hooks and top-notch sound quality. That’s why it’s self-titled; it’s a redefining episode for PRONG!”
As the band’s mission statement, “Prong” incorporates the well of styles their legacy is built on. Blistering thrash sections, open into lush choruses on opening anthem “The Banner”, before somehow pushing the intensity even further on “New Commission”. “The Uprising” reintroduces the band’s industrial edge, weaponizing textured synths over a pulsating two-step, before “Uncertain Truth” flexes its melodic chops, offering a transcendently sweet hook. Immediately the band dropkicks listeners in the chest with the pummeling “Fear The Sun” inciting classic New York hardcore pit violence. Iconic vocalist and guitarist Tommy Victor‘s chops come out in full swing on “Proportionate Response”, a smoldering incitement of retaliatory justice, before the blistering kicks of “Simulated Drowning” propel us forward. Album closer “Our Continuance” brings things to a cataclysmic close with its menacingly methodical pulse and pummeling discordant breakdowns, tied together with a lush chorus amplified with swelling synth textures.
With Andy Sneap at Backstage Studios for mixing and mastering, the album sounds crisp and punchy, Victor‘s biting lyrics confrontational and infiltrating, driving listeners to contemplate complex matters like the validity of truth, self inhibitors, and altruism. Dynamically bold, ideologically driven, and melodically infectious, “Prong” honors their legacy, reminding us why the band has had such a successful longevity.
About the LP’s first single, “The Banner”, Tommy previously said: “We are unbelievably excited to share the first single, ‘The Banner’, from our upcoming self-titled record. Andy Sneap‘s mix and master is absolutely blistering and ferocious. This is just the beginning and we hope you enjoy it.”
The album will come in a myriad of formats, including a Black LP, Inkspot Cristallo/Red LP, White Label LP, digital album and a CD which will come with two bonus tracks, “Out Of Body” and “Cruel Summer”, the latter of which a cover of the BANANARAMA classic. Additionally there will be two cap bundles — one for the CD and one for the LP.
PRONG is:
Tommy Victor – Guitars, Vocals
Tyler Joseph – Drums
Christopher Dean – Bass