PRONG and PRIEST RECORDING NEW ALBUMS & LIVE “BEG TO DIFFER,” VIDEO

rbtaleman November 22, 2011 Leave a Comment

Heavy music innovators PRONG have entered the studio with producer Steve Evetts (THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN, SYMPHONY X,
SEPULTURA, HATEBREED) to begin recording their new album for an early 2012 release via Long Branch Records/SPV.

“[Steve] understands PRONG in a way no other producer we’ve ever worked with has,” says PRONG guitarist/vocalist Tommy Victor.

“We have a lot of history and have always evolved as a band. The goal for all of us was to take all of that and make a definitive PRONG album.”

In other news, PRONG is featured in Decibel magazine’s “Thrash Metal Hall Of Fame” special issue in an article detailing the making of 1990’s benchmark album “Beg To Differ”.

Founded in 1986, PRONG is considered to be a pioneer of the American post-hardcore and post-metal scenes whose influence is still being felt
today.

In an October 2009 interview with Target Audience, Victor stated about the songwriting process for PRONG‘s next album, “The earlier batch was not like ‘Power of the Damager’ material. Just to be more general, it was more of a reach towards the ‘Rude Awakening’ or KILLING JOKE-type material. Then I came up with a couple of, like, you know, brutal thrash ideas and then some other ideas for, uh, total riff rock — like not like modern. I think they sort of go back into the ‘Cleansing’ era where it was based on GODFLESH or something and then I’ll have too see…I’ve started attacking the riffs again and seem to be in that vein of BLACK SABBATH-oriented or more than we’ve done. I think it’s gonna be cool eventually. It’s just like getting the right ideas finding out where we’re out going and like throwin’ ’em all together and taking a look at it.”

He added, “It’s all about songs. I mean, PRONG is a songwriting band, ya know? That’s why it takes so long, because we just don’t go in and have this formula of patterns and, ya know, or just record some really heavy stuff and scream all over it; I have to figure out a lyrical concept and a lyrical line and the lyrics. And I gotta do all that and then, of course, solos and there’s a lot on me on the whole thing, unfortunately.”

PRONG‘s last release was “Power Of The Damn Mixxxer”, the remix counterpart to the band’s 2007 album “Power of The Damager”. Victor previously stated about the collection, “We are really excited about this remix compilation of ‘Power Of The Damager’ material. We feel the LP was overlooked and in some cases ignored. But the added elements provided by the great remixers, producers, and deejays infused with all the tracks make ‘Power Of The Damn Mixxxer’ an interesting yet enjoyable listening experience.”

ATLmetal.com has posted video footage of PRONG performing the song “Beg To Differ” on March 9, 2010 at the Loft in Atlanta, Georgia. Watch the clip below.

Matthew Wilkening of Ultimate Classic Rock recently conducted an interview with vocalist Rob Halford of British heavy metal legends JUDAS PRIEST. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below. Ultimate Classic Rock: Is it true you’ve got a bunch of songs done for your next album?Halford: We do, yeah! Glenn [Tipton, guitar] and I started to write in the early part of January this year. We just went to it from the heart really, there was no specific agenda or idea, as opposed to what we had to do with “Nostradamus”, which was very focused and a real anchor of a project. This one has just been some straight-forward, classic British heavy metal. Some of it feels a bit like “Painkiller”, some of it feels like “Sad Wings Of Destiny”, some like “British Steel”. We didn’t do much research, we didn’t bother checking some of our previous releases, we didn’t do any homework, we just sat down and played, you know? Glenncame up with riffs and I came up with vocal melodies. There was no outside influence or interference in the writing sessions. We just started the day, plugged in some amps, got the mic up and made the metal that way. It’s a very pure record, in that respect.Ultimate Classic Rock: Were you surprised the response to your “American Idol”appearance was so positive?Halford: Nothing surprises us now. That’s not to slight the importance of “American Idol”. I think what I’m trying to say, it’s just that, when you’ve been in and seen and done as much as we have in JUDAS PRIEST, and we say that with tremendous gratitude, not with cynicism… you
know. It was really special to be invited to that great show — and we call it a great show, because the essence of it is really important — it’s just a nice,
big strong way to introduce new vocal talent to America. To be there for James Durbin and to be there for heavy metal, in 30-million-plus American
homes that night, was tremendously exciting. Whatever we do, there may have been some people who said, “Aww, why is my PRIEST on that chump show ‘American Idol’?” Well, it ain’t a chump show, it’s a very important music show, and for the first time ever, heavy metal was in the mix.Ultimate Classic Rock: Hopefully some young, impressionable kids were watching. Halford: Well, yeah, that’s exactly why we jumped in with both feet! James is spreading the message, James is hardcore metal maniac. This is a great way for a lot of people who didn’t know about metal to see PRIEST and see this new talent James rocking out and delivering the goods. Ultimate Classic Rock: You recently did a 30th anniversary British Steel” tour. Any such plans next year for “Screaming For Vengeance”?

Halford: The thing is, of course, there was a period where PRIEST was literally making a brand new record every year — I don’t know how we did that! It was amazing. We’d come off a big world tour, catch our breath and go straight into the studio and keep, you know, making new music, that’s how it was in those days. So now, it seems like anniversary after anniversary is coming up. In all honesty, we would love do it. But (laughs) in practical real world, it’s not possible. That’s not to say we might not do something like that in the future, but “British Steel” was very important for JUDAS PRIEST, and probably for heavy metal, to an extent. There were songs on that record that crossed over and went into people’s lives through rock and roll radio for the first time ever.

Read the entire interview from Ultimate Classic Rock.

Published by rbtaleman

Heavy metal (fiend/friend?) Writer, frustrat(or), frustrat(ee), decorated U.S. Navy veteran, Husband(twice), father(three times), grandfather(of seven), FM radio veteran, Concertgoer, music collector, muscle car aficianado. Grown up since five. Child since 45. View all posts by rbtaleman