Yeah, industrial-tinged riff-metal monsters Prong are back — or at least frontman Tommy Victor is back with two new guys and he’s calling the band Prong — but it’s not the first time that’s happened. After the group’s last album for Sony, 1996’s Rude Awakening, Victor disappeared for six years then resurfaced with a new lineup and a live album that got old-school fans all excited. He even followed with a studio record, Scorpio Rising, a year later before dropping out of sight again for four more years. So, what makes this re-emergence different?
First, Prong’s new album, Power of the Damager, rivals the heaviness, intensity and scream-along hooks of the band’s early ’90s material (before Victor got delusions of the tragically commercial kind). Two, Victor worked on the new album with Ministry maverick, Al Jourgensen, who stuck him with a meatfork whenever he leaned too far to the right. And third, we can tell Victor is serious this time because he’s finally doing videos again, and, as anyone who’s seen Prong’s clips for “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” or “Beg to Differ” can tell you, that’s a damn good sign.
Prong’s latest video venture is for the title track of their new record. The clip features live footage that looks like it was shot during an earthquake and lots of TV camera images of a mental patient and the authority figures that abuse him. The whole thing seems to be making some sort of commentary about police brutality, and, well, heavy metal brutality in general. Judge for yourself below, and catch it again on Saturday night’s Headbangers Ball on MTV2:
