Prong

Prong is an American groove metal band formed in New York City in 1986. It is a band unknown to the general public, but important bands on the music scene such as Korn or Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails have acknowledged the influence Prong has had on their music.

Biography

Beginnings (1986–1989)

Prong formed in New York City in 1986 with Ted Parson on drums, Mike Kirkland on bass and Tommy Victor on guitars and vocals. The EP Primtive Origins is released in 1987, followed by the album Force Fed, both on the Southern label.

Contract with Epic and "underground" (1989–1995)

In 1990 the band signed a contract with Epic Records and recorded Beg to Differ, with a sound that can be described as thrash metal. Before recording their next work, Prove You Wrong, Mike Kirkland leaves the band and is replaced by Troy Gregory of Flotsam and Jetsam. On the album you can see the first contacts with industrial metal. The following year the EP Whose Fist Is This Anyway was released, a collection of mixes from the previous album. In 1993 Paul Raven replaced Troy Gregory and keyboardist John Bechdel joined. In 1994 the band released Cleansing, an album that featured the single 'Snap Your Fingers Snap Your Neck', a song that became a hit for the band.

Decline (1996–2000)

In 1996 they released Rude Awakening, an industrial metal album from start to finish. However, Epic Records decided to cancel the contract they had with the band due to poor sales of their albums. That same year the band split up, Tommy Victor played in Danzig while Ted Parsons would go to Godflesh.

Reunion (2000-present)

Tommy Victor regrouped the band in 2002 with guitarist Monte Pittman (Madonna), drummer Dan Laudo and bassist Brian Perry. After some tours they released the live album 100% Live. In 2003 they entered the studio and recorded a new album titled Scorpio Rising, which moves away a little from the industrial that Rude Awakening was. In 2005 they released a DVD called The Vault, which includes two concerts and six songs from another concert. During 2005-2006 Tommy Victor and Paul Raven were playing for the band Ministry.

In 2007 Prong posted on their official Myspace that they were recording new material in El Paso, Texas. The band signed to Al Jourgensen's label, 13th Planet Records, with which they released Power of the Damager in October. The new lineup consisted of Monte Pittman on bass and drummer Aaron Rossi, who had already played with the band in 2005. Paul Raven dies of a heart attack in his sleep at the age of 46. He was recording with the French band Treponem Pal, with Ted Parsons. In 2008 the video for "Power of the Damager" was released.

The latest lineup consists of Alexei Rodríguez and Tony Campos of Static-X. With the new decade, only in 2012 Prong released a studio album again, titled Carved Into Stone, a production that mixes the best moments of his three great classic albums (Prove Your Wrong , Cleansing and Rude Awakening), even though there is a trend towards the groove metal of the nineties, bordering on alternative metal.

Members

• Tommy Victor - guitar, voice (since 1986)
• Jason Christopher - bass, choirs (since 2017)
• Aaron Rossi - Battery (since 2018)

Discography

Albums

• Primitive Origins - 1987
• Force Fed - 1988
• Beg To Differ - 1990
• Prove You Wrong - 1991
• Whose Fist This Is Annyway - 1993
• Cleansing - 1994
• Rude Awakening - 1996
• 100% Live - 2002
• Scorpio Rising - 2003
• Power of the Damager - 2007
• Carved into Stone - 2012
• Ruining Lives - 2014
• Songs From The Black Hole - 2015
• X - No Absolutes - 2016
• Zero Days - 2017

DVD

• The Vault - 2005