Prong - Carved Into Stone

Nice to hear the sound of classic thrash groovers from NYC. Play it, Tommy!My first encounter with Prong was back in the day with their album Beg To Differ (1990). I immediately liked their sound as they were part of the big East Coast sound back when I was getting into the Thrash Metal genre pretty heavy. I liked their way of mellowing the razor sharp edges of pure West Coast thrash with a characteristic New York City grooviness while retaining the heaviness and you'd expect from a metal band.

While the band's gone through a lot of changes since then, founder/guitarist Tommy Victor has maintained a certain sound that keeps the operation centered and culminating in their follow-up to 2007's well-received Power of the Damager. Carved Into Stone, Prong's 8th studio album in 26 years, calls to mind my favorite of their early work like Beg To Differ and Cleansing, where you get precision metal riffs with a nice groove that overall gives you a sense of enjoyable - and, more to the point, memorable - thrash.

The Bottom Line: If you're an old school Prong fan, you're gonna like hearing them once more. It's like moshing with old friends. INTO THE PIT!

Tracks To Make You Dig Your Old Chuck Taylors Out Of The Closet: Eternal Heat, Keep On Living In Pain, Revenge...Best Served Cold, and List Of Grievances

- Genghis is still moshing around the office...