Prong (band)

Prong
Tommy Victor, Monte Pittman and Aaron Rossi, performing live with Prong in Graz, Austria, on January 16, 2008
Background information
Origin	New York City, New York, US
Genres	Thrash metal, groove metal, industrial metal, hardcore punk, alternative metal
Years active	1986–1997, 2002–present
Labels	Epic, Locomotive, 13th Planet
Associated acts	Swans, Abstinence, Danzig, The Dirtbombs, Fear Factory, Godflesh, Jesu, Killing Joke, Ministry, Murder, Inc., Wasted Youth, Damage, Mest
Website	www.prongmusic.com
Members	Tommy Victor Tony Campos Alexei Rodriguez
Past members	Ted Parsons Paul Raven John Bechdel Sterling Flournoy Troy Gregory Dan Laudo Brian Perry Mike Kirkland Monte Pittman Aaron Rossi Mike Longworth

Prong is an American metal band formed in 1986. Prong had two independent releases, Primitive Origins and Force Fed. The albums attracted the attention of Epic Records, who signed the trio in 1989. The group disbanded in 1997 after the Rude Awakening tour, but re-formed in 2002. To date, they have released seven studio albums, and one live CD (not counting Primitive Origins, which is an EP). A pioneer of the urban metal scene, Prong is fronted by Tommy Victor. Korn's Jonathan Davis, Demon Hunter's Ryan Clark, and Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor cite Prong as an influence to their musical style.

History

Early career (1986–1988)

Founded by singer/guitarist Tommy Victor who was a sound man for the famous club CBGB and bassist Mike Kirkland (doorman at CBGB’s). Ex-Swans drummer Ted Parsons joined a few months later. Prong released an EP (Primitive Origins) and an album (Force Fed) that were noted for their brutal hardcore punk sound. The recordings were released on Southern Records in the U.K. and Europe in the late 1980s.

Major label signing and mainstream success (1989–1995)

Epic Records saw the band's potential and signed them in 1989. Prong's major label debut album, Beg to Differ, was released in 1990.

In the following year, Kirkland left the band and was replaced by bassist Troy Gregory. Prong issued their fourth release, Prove You Wrong, which saw the band experiment with programming and electronic samples while still retaining an aggressive yet melodic sensibility.

By 1994, Troy Gregory was out of the band and was replaced by Paul Raven and John Bechdel, both from Killing Joke and Murder, Inc. The new line up released Cleansing (Prong’s 5th major release). With a slight industrial metal influence, Cleansing contained songs that are still considered Prong classics ("Broken Peace" and "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck") and is Prong’s most successful release to date. The videos for these two songs became staples of MTV’s legendary Headbangers Ball. The band toured with Sepultura and Pantera as an opener for their Chaos A.D. and Far Beyond Driven tours.

Demise (1996–2000)

Prong's sixth album Rude Awakening was released in 1996. It entered the charts at No. 74 and sold 10,000 units in America in one week. Epic Records decided Prong were not selling enough records and released them from their contract 3 weeks later. Shortly thereafter, Prong's line-up disbanded prior to a tour supporting Type O Negative, as Victor later joined Danzig as Glenn's guitar player, Raven and Parsons left to join Godflesh.

Interim (2000–2006)

In 2000, Victor re-formed Prong with bassist Brian Perry (Jake E. Lee) (Flood), drummer Dan Laudo and guitarist Monte Pittman (Madonna). In 2002, after a 42-show American tour that was recorded for a live CD (100% Live, Locomotive Music) Prong entered the studio and recorded a new CD titled Scorpio Rising which was received with mixed responses.

Victor played on and off again with Glenn Danzig from 1998–2005 in between time with Prong. His final goal of playing and writing on a Danzig record was met with Circle of Snakes in 2004.

Prong released a live 2-disc DVD in 2005 entitled "The Vault" which features performances from the Hulstsfred and With Full Force festivals and a full show in Amsterdam. This disc has Brian Perry and Mike Longworth on bass as Longworth replaced Perry after his departure in 2003. Dan Laudo left the band in 2005 and the band enlisted Aaron Rossi, who used to be in the bands Strife (Victory Records), Shelter (Century Media Records), John 5 (Shrapnel Records), and Ankla (Bieler Bros. Records)

Victor and Raven joined Ministry in 2005 to write and tour in support of their album Rio Grande Blood (2006). They were nominated for a Grammy in 2007 for the song Senior Peligro in the "Best Metal Performance" category. The two also appear on Ministry's follow up album The Last Sucker (2007), although in a more limited capacity.

Reformation (2007-present)

On June 4, 2007, Prong posted a MySpace bulletin stating that they were recording in El Paso, Texas. The band left Locomotive Music, and were signed to Al Jourgensen's 13th Planet Records, who released their latest album Power of the Damager on October 2, 2007.

The band embarked on the "Slicing Across America" and "Slicing Across Europe" tours supporting Power of the Damager in 2007 and early 2008. Joining Tommy Victor in the current live membership of the band is Monte Pittman and drummer Aaron Rossi.

Paul Raven died of an apparent heart attack in his sleep on October 20, 2007 at the age of 46. He was recording with French recording artists Treponem Pal on their new album with Ted Parsons at the time of his death.

Aaron Rossi joined Ministry as their new drummer on the "C U LaTour" which started in March 2008.

In February 2008, Headbanger's Ball premiered the video "Power Of The Damager".

According to a March 2009 interview with Ministry's Al Jourgensen, Prong is scheduled to return to the studio to record a new album sometime in 2009 which Jourgensen is slated to produce.

Aaron Rossi will be joining Revolting Cocks as their new drummer on the "LuBriCaTour" in September 2009.

Alexei Rodriguez and Tony Campos from Static-X are currently on the lineup with Tommy supporting Soulfly on the "Blood Fire War Hate" tour in the fall of 2009.

The band supported Fear Factory on their tour which ended on June 6, 2010. Prong have a back-to-basics new album, Carved Into Stone, released on April 23, 2012. It has been released to rave reviews by long-time Prong fans, as well as new converts. A tour has also been announced with dates to coincide with the new album's release. In May 2012, Prong performed Beg to Differ in its entirety during a two-week tour in Europe.

Members

• Tommy Victor - lead vocals, guitar (since 1986)
• Tony Campos - bass guitar (since 2009)
• Alexei Rodriguez - drums (since 2009)

Discography

Main article: Prong discography

• Force Fed (1988)
• Beg to Differ (1990)
• Prove You Wrong (1991)
• Cleansing (1994)
• Rude Awakening (1996)
• 100% Live (2002)
• Scorpio Rising (2003)
• Power of the Damager (2007)
• Power of the Damn Mixxxer (2009)
• Carved Into Stone (2012)

In pop culture

• Professional wrestler Justin Credible used the song "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck" as his entrance song in ECW, and following the folding of the company continued to use it on the independent circuit. The band Grinspoon also covered the song for Credible's entrance music.
• Demon Hunter, Grinspoon, Six Feet Under and Dry Kill Logic have released covers of "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck".
• Death metal band Grave included a cover of "Rude Awakening" on vinyl copies of their 2008 album Dominion VIII.
• "Lost and Found", "For Dear Life" and "Beg to Differ" were used as some of the intro music for Headbangers Ball on MTV from 1990–1995 while Riki Rachtman was host.
• The Queer's song "Ben Weasel" mentions that Ben Weasel doesn't like Prong.
• Texan hardcore band Power Trip recorded a cover of "Brainwave" from the album "Prove You Wrong" for their self-titled 7" inch.

External links

• Prong's official website