Prong

Emerging onto the hardcore music scene of New York City in 1986, Prong is an American band whose sound melds elements from groove metal, industrial music, and thrash. Beginning as a collaborative effort between Tommy Victor, a sound engineer for CBGB, and Mike Kirkland, the iconic club's doorman, they soon added the skills of ex-Swans drummer Ted Parsons. The late 1980s saw Prong release the raw-sounding Primitive Origins EP (1987) and Force Fed (1989) album. The latter caught the attention of Epic Records, leading to Prong's 1990 major-label debut, Beg to Differ. As the years passed, the band underwent numerous lineup changes, including the addition of renowned members from Killing Joke, Murder, Inc., and later musicians from bands like Dirty Looks, Jake E. Lee, and Madonna. During this time, Tommy Victor remained the sole creative force behind the project. With each change came minor tweaks in sound—Cleansing (1994), with its touch of industrial metal, delivered anthems like "Broken Peace" and "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck,"  whose videos received heavy airplay on MTV's Headbangers Ball. Rude Awakening, issued in 1996, topped the US Heatseekers chart and even entered the Billboard 200, peaking at number 107. Despite their budding commercial success, Victor and company were released from Epic Records in the mid-1990s. After periods of disbandment and association with legendary acts like Danzig and Ministry, the frontman revived the moniker over the following years, delivering releases like Ruining Lives (2014) and Zero Days (2017). They returned in 2023 with their thirteenth studio LP, State of Emergency.