Superior thrash from Tommy Victor and the lads. What’s new?
It’s a somewhat odd thing about heavy metal that sometimes the truly innovative have to settle for a status that is somewhat less than they deserve. But then it’s also true that there’s a disproportionate amount of magnificent three piece bands.
From Rush to ZZ Top to Motörhead (RIP) your trio thumps and thunders and does things that mere mortals don’t do. On both the innovation and triumvirate fronts, Prong have it down.
Quite simply, Tommy Victor and whatever line up he’s chosen to play with – there’s been a revolving door but this current line up of Victor, Jason Christopher (Stone Sour) and Art Cruz has been relatively stable – has melded thrash, industrial, punk and a damn fine chorus with skillful ease since 1986.
Even allowing for that, however, their output since 2012’s “Carved Into Stone” (when they emerged from a five year hiatus as Victor played with just about everyone) has been stellar to say the least. It’s into that rarified company that “X – No Absolutes” comes.
And, make no mistake, it’s….urmmmm….absolutely not out of place in any way.
It’s title track, all tort rhythms and clenched fist intent, before exploding with an enormous hook, might be almost half way through the record, but it very much acts as its defining moment, although the opener “Ultimate Authority” isn’t far behind – and indeed, as we’ve by now come to expect, Prong pull this off by sounding like Prong.
That means a violent world – talking about the “consequences of the will of the right” – and a nihilistic one too, believe us, as ballads go “Do Nothing” is as far removed from “Every Rose Has Its Thorn” as you can possibly get.
It’s the giant riffs that really hit home. “Belief System”, which could crush you and everything you own if it wanted to, is a veritable sonic beatdown, and the menacing bass riff of “Ice Runs Through My Veins” suggests that it means what says – actually, as with all the best Prong songs, there’s a sense of coldness here and the music is very much in that ballpark. These are not loose songs, this isn’t a band that fancies doing warmth and welcome.
Rather Prong are angry, and they seem to think they have a lot to be angry about. The bluster of “Worth Pursuing” is counterbalanced wonderfully by the closing “With Dignity” which adds a different dynamic.
At this point in their career we probably shouldn’t be surprised when Prong release a brilliant record. But they have. And that’s the absolute truth.
Rating 8.5/10
