Prong — Inside the 90s:
Beg to Differ, Prove You Wrong, The Cleansing & Rude Awakening
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"New York City. A place where your soul will become properly calloused with a G.F.Y. mentality in the most hardcore, New York way imaginable."
"They've always had a nice mix of thrash, industrial, and groove…"
"It's like a more hardcore version of Helmet… like an angrier Helmet."
"Something about the way he does riffs… when Tommy Victor does the Tommy Victor thing, it's like when Iommi does the trill…"
"That's just straight up 'Fuck You!'… The New York Ethos."
"This is an educational episode for us."
About This Episode
New York City. A place where the subways never close, you can hit any deli, diner, or pizzeria at all hours for a bite to eat, and your soul will become properly calloused with a G.F.Y. mentality in the most hardcore New York way imaginable. And when it comes to infusing that kind of attitude into metal, NYC's Prong has quite literally turned that into an artform.
Formed in 1986, Prong had two independent releases (Primitive Origins in 1987 and Force Fed in 1988) before signing to Epic Records in 1989. With a sonic palette of crossover thrash morphing into groove metal combined with subtly understated industrial soundscapes, Prong became one of the earliest crossover bands to blend thrash, groove, and industrial metal into a unique, attitude-driven style — and they did it before that other groove metal band from the 90s whose name also starts with the letter "P."
Go check out Prong at prongmusic.com. 🤘
🆕 New Album Alert: Prong's self-titled album Prong is coming — dropping November 6, 2026. Check out the new single "The Banner" — "That's like a return to form… the thrashiness of it." "That rhythm section is a monstrosity!" Go support them at prongmusic.com.
#AskTheMetalhead — Four Questions This Episode
🎙 Ask The Metalhead — Ep. 365
Prong — Inside the 90s: The Albums
"This feels like high school…" "I've heard this (Lost and Found) before… it sounds very familiar." "It's very, very tight… it's almost claustrophobic… in a good way." The breakthrough — the first Prong album on Epic Records, produced by Terry Date. The crossover thrash foundation that everything else is built on. #anechoic — NOTE: The quietest room in the world is an anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis, MN.
"It's almost claustrophobic… in a good way."
"We're only doing the 90's today…" "I can't place the guitar on Prove You Wrong… tell me what it sounds like… I swear I've heard it somewhere before, but I can't place it…" "That's very Zeppelin…" "It does have that Jimmy Page… weird, twangly, sloppy-ish… sound." The second Epic album and the bridge between the raw crossover thrash of the debut and the full groove metal sound to come.
"That's very Zeppelin… that Jimmy Page, weird, twangly, sloppy-ish sound."
"It's probably more groove metal than thrash…" "It's like a more hardcore version of Helmet… like an angrier Helmet." "That's a nasty guitar sound… I like it." "It's definitely got an attitude… it's like a 'more attitude Helmet'." "That's just straight up 'Fuck You!'…" #NewYorkEthos. Cut-Rate: "The solo is almost like Deep Purple… like the Speed King solo." And then the big one — Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck: the commercial peak, the heaviest thing on MTV that year, and the song that put Prong on the mainstream metal map. "How about the big hit single?"
"It's like a more hardcore version of Helmet… like an angrier Helmet."
"If this is your first time checking out this podcast, whenever we're talking about 'coke lines'… if you go into Amazon Music and you're looking at the ratings, that's what we're talking about… the more coke lines, the better." Controller: #recordscratch. Rude Awakening: "It's almost got a weird NIN vibe…" "Something about the way he does riffs… when Tommy Victor does the Tommy Victor thing, it's like when Iommi does the trill… or when Page Hamilton does the weird, ringy, Helmet chords…" Slicing: "Here's the lesson here, folks… don't let the coke lines fool ya…" Close the Door: "I do like his use of the industrial stuff… it's kind of understated; it's not in your face."
"When Tommy Victor does the Tommy Victor thing, it's like when Iommi does the trill."Then they took a little bit of a break… After Rude Awakening underperformed commercially and Epic dropped them, Prong went on hiatus. Tommy Victor spent the years playing guitar for Danzig and doing session work — before reforming Prong in 2002 and releasing albums consistently ever since. The new self-titled album Prong drops November 6, 2026. "That rhythm section is a monstrosity!"
Episode Timestamps
- Episode: Metal Nerdery #365 — Prong: Inside the 90s
- Band: Prong — formed New York City, 1986
- Albums covered: Beg to Differ (1990) · Prove You Wrong (1991) · The Cleansing (1994) · Rude Awakening (1996)
- Producer: Terry Date — all four 90s albums
- The sound: Crossover thrash → groove metal → industrial. "They've always had a nice mix of thrash, industrial, and groove."
- The Tommy Victor thing: "When Tommy Victor does the Tommy Victor thing, it's like when Iommi does the trill… or when Page Hamilton does the weird, ringy, Helmet chords."
- The big hit: Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck (The Cleansing, 1994)
- New album: Prong (self-titled) — November 6, 2026. New single: "The Banner"
- #AskTheMetalhead: Perfect starter album · Best vocalist change · This or That (8 matchups) · Should metal albums have ballads?
- Prong footnote: Yes, even before that other groove metal band from the 90s whose name also starts with the letter "P." 🤘