Prong
Cleansing

THE REVIEW

The year was 1994. At the time, I spent my days between school, arcades, and record stores. I remember 1994 very well because, during those legendary twelve months, most of the albums that completely changed my concept of music were released. First and foremost, Nine Inch Nails' "The Downward Spiral," Machine Head's "Burn My Eyes," the self-titled Korn album, Marilyn Manson's "Portrait of an American Family," and "Youthanasia" by Megadeth. A little later came "Demanufacture" by Fear Factory. That year, it was rare for me to listen to anything else, and perhaps that's why I feel the need to give credit to this work by the Prong, a New York trio already active towards the late '80s.

The band offers a hardcore metal with harsh, hard tones, which at times calls to mind the sounds dear to the more mature Sick of it All. With the guitars placed at the forefront, the use of effects reduced to the bare minimum, a syncopated rhythm section, and a bass with rough tones (at times inappropriate), they create a very interesting work, albeit not particularly varied. The choppy riff of "Another Wordly Device" (a mediocre opening song) introduces us to the anger of "Cleansing," which reaches its peak tension right with the following "Whose Fist is This Anyway?". The bass of "Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck" is in charge of controlling the instincts, seemingly wanting to lower the hostility, but the guitars enter the scene like sharp blades, and Tommy Victor's hoarse voice suddenly appears less confused, finally surpassing that compact sonic wall to sing his anger against the system, and his social denunciation resolves in the second verse: "expectations of my daily bread gives me the hunger to steal". There is a sudden shift to fast-paced thrash in "Cut Rate," returning to the hardcore of "Broken Peace" and the following tracks.

A track-by-track analysis becomes indeed unnecessary at this point, as the product is quite solid and flows smoothly to the end. Ultimately, this "Cleansing" proves to be a good work, which I probably wouldn't have appreciated in the year of its release, given the fierce competition from bands that, in my opinion, breathed new life into the metal scene in general. Worth listening to today, to forget all the over-used and ill-digested clichés by subsequent generations of musicians (but also the downward spiral that affected my idols of yesterday).