• Лейбъл: SPV/Wizard
• Издаден: 2014
• Aвтор: Стефан Топузов
• Оценка:

Maybe a bit too often when it comes to PRONG, you happen to read about how this band never became that successful. And well, they really didn't make it into metal's 'major league', even though since the mid 90s it has been harboring a lot of their peers and fans, who have been greatly influenced by this New York trio's alternative post-thrash. But you have to realize that a lot of talented bands have vanished into oblivion somewhere along the music industry's unforgiving trenches. Way more than the ones who made it out of there, actually.

What makes PRONG's story different is the stoicism with which the band's leader, Tommy Victor, took all of fate's punches and made a career in said trenches, soldiering ahead in the name of one thing – the music itself. PRONG's new album, 'Ruining Lives,' is an embodiment of that dedication.

Noticeably less alternative and way more metal, in 2014 PRONG thrash out like never before.

Songs like 'In the Book of Change' and 'Turnover' make 'Cut Rate' seem slow in comparison.

But when you read 'thrash' don't expect anything in the vein of Slayer or Kreator – everything is once again subjected to Victor's characteristic guitar and vocal approach.

Built over the solid backbone of powerful groove riffs, the songs make a slalom among outbursts of primal crossover metal fury and moments where the melodic undertones take the lead (the way a piercing thrash solo slows down to some Black Sabbath-esque doom in the title track is particularly impressive). The industrial element meanwhile, remains on the back seat but is felt as a presence in songs like 'Absence of Light' and 'Windows Shut.'

The definitive thing about 'Ruining Lives' however, is a sense of stability. The album builds up on everything good from the previous one, 2012's 'Carved into Stone,' including the production quality and the mix (once again by Steve Evetts), Victor's vocals in particular sounding better than ever.

PRONG are now a band that has found itself and its signature style, a world away from striving for mass appeal. With albums like 'Ruining Lives' their cult status is bound to remain intact.