PRONG's new album is self-titled for a reason that is part statement and part complaint. Speaking to Cassidy of WSOU 89.5 FM, guitarist and vocalist Tommy Victor explained that the band's move to Napalm Records deserved a reintroduction after years of putting out records nobody noticed.
"We've been on this other label, Steamhammer, for so many years, and I don't think anybody knows that we were putting records out, to be honest with you. It seemed like, 'Oh, you guys are still around?' 'Yeah, we just put out an album,' blah, blah, blah. So Napalm's a bigger label. And then there's — I don't know — a little bit more rejuvenation in the sound of the band… it's New York hardcore thrash, crossover, industrial metal, but a little more song-oriented… And then it's a heavier record, it's faster… I just feel it's like a new renaissance of PRONG."
The writing ran at wildly different speeds. "The Uprising" grew out of a single riff Victor sat with for months. Another track was written in the back room at Dingbatz in Clifton, New Jersey in January, minutes before the band went in to record, when he realised there was not enough album. "That took three minutes to write it… There's no real formula."
"Fear The Sun", likely the second single, came from an unexpected source: his son's playlists. "He kept playing a bunch of new metal playlists, so I'm, like, 'Yeah, a lot of these bands sound like PRONG.'" First single from the record will be "New Commission", built on a very fast loop.
The darker corners surprised him too. His wife told him one song sounded gothic; he agreed, calling it "a TYPE O [NEGATIVE]-meets-KILLING JOKE type of thing".
The album was tracked locally on Long Island — Victor worked 9-to-2 days so he could pick up his kids — then handed to Andy Sneap for mixing and mastering. "Evetts, we love you, and you did a great job," he said of longtime producer Steve Evetts, before noting that Sneap "upped the dose with the mix on this one."
"Prong" arrives November 6 via Napalm Records with eleven tracks plus two CD bonuses, including a cover of BANANARAMA's "Cruel Summer". The current lineup is Victor, bassist Christopher Dean and drummer Tyler Joseph.
Source: blabbermouth.net