Prong - Carved Into Stone
Carved Into Stone is Prong’s long awaited return album, following a lengthy hiatus where Tommy Victor spent time playing with Danzig and Ministry. This is also their debut for Long Branch Records/SPV. I remember listening to this band quite a bit back in the day and I was never a huge fan of their music. I had a copy of Beg to Differ, but even after repeated listens, I just wasn’t really into it. After having not heard from the band for so long, listening to a new album from them was something that I approached with mixed feelings. The first thing I noticed was that while I remember Prong being more Hardcore/Nu-Metal in sound and style (stop-start riffing, breakdowns, etc), this new stuff sounds like if you took all of the effects off of Peter Tagtgren’s Pain. One listen to tracks like “Keep on Living in Pain” and you can’t help but make that comparison, especially when Tommy Victor uses effects on his vocals. Personally, I prefer this incarnation of Prong to the version that released Beg to Differ. The songs are more accessible and they also flow better this time around. The one thing that I didn’t like about this album was the marked lack of aggression in the music. The songs are pretty rocking, but I wouldn’t call this album hostile or aggressive compared to their old material, regardless of what their press materials say. These guys are trying to balance accessibility, heaviness and aggression, and by retaining heaviness and gaining accessibility, they’ve sacrificed aggression. Even with the lack of aggression, this is still a solid album that holds up well even after repeated listens.
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