Prong-Cleansing, 1993

Pantera, White Zombie, Tool and Helmet. Do you know those bands? I would wager that many people know all of them or at least all except maybe Helmet. Those bands are different from each other in a lot of ways, but in general in the early 90's they had a heavy, stripped down sound. All of those bands met success ranging from decent (Helmet) to stellar (Pantera). Yet to me the band that was doing the stripped down heavy sound better than anyone was else was New York three piece Prong. They had a few release in the mid to late 1990's, but their real breakthrough came in 1990 with "Beg to differ" which exemplified a simple yet direct sound that really hit. In 1991 they released "Prove you wrong" which had a bit more industrial flare to it, but still retained a nice sharp heaviness. By 1993 they hit what I think was their peak with "Cleansing" which hits with all the subtlety of a jackhammer, but the band still manages to control the pace and squeeze everything they can out of each song. On "Cleansing" they mix things up a bit as well mixing traditional metal styling with more modern beats and styles. To me Prong were one of the most important metal bands of the 1990's due to their ability to maintain a solid heaviness reminiscent of 80's metal yet they still managed to stand fresh when compared to other 90's bands. This album still rattle my spine thirteen years after it's release so they must have done something right. In 1996 they would release "Rude Awakening" which was very good as well, but the band quickly broke up. Founder/vocalist/guitarist re-formed the band a few years ago and released an album, but it's like a different band as most of the magic seems to have been lost.