One of the most criminally under appreciated metal bands of the ‘90s, New York’s Prong played thrashy, jarring songs that featured barbed, staccato guitar riffs, tumbling beats and screamy call-and-response vocals. Fronted by Tommy Victor, the original lineup also included ex-Swans drummer Ted Parsons, who later played with Godflesh and is currently in Jesu. Over the years, ex-Killing Joke members, bassist Paul Raven and keyboardist John Bechdel, would also swim in and out of Prong’s shark-infested waters.
As they evolved, Prong experimented with industrial textures, alternative rhythms and sludge metal riffs, but the band’s first two major label albums, 1990’s Beg to Differ and 1991’s Prove You Wrong, remain their greatest achievements, influencing a slew of bands, including Korn, Limp Bizkit, Helmet, and Cannibal Corpse (just kidding about that one).
In 2003, Victor reformed Prong with a new lineup and recorded Scorpio Rising. He later toured as a guitarist with Danzig, and most recently, Ministry, but is currently shopping for a new deal. Two new songs, “Third Option” and “Looking For Them” can be streamed at Prong’s MySpace page (www.myspace.com/Prong).
This weekend, Headbangers Ball will air the band’s brutally catchy “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” video from 1994. And now, here’s “Beg to Differ from 1990.”
