Prong - Carved Into Stone

A very well traveled band, it's at the very least good to see Tommy Victor still keeping the name alive in 2012. I've always seen Prong as much more than a one hit wonder, though as with many bands with lengthy careers, I find myself drawn to a particular era that, to me, defines the band, and more often than not, is the measuring stick I use for any new output. To be specific, the era in question is their early 90's output when the band was straddling the line between crossover thrash, noise rock and industrial metal. While they've tinkered more in the industrial/nu metal side of things since, this effort shows hints of the stripped down thrash sound they initially built their career on. That being said, there are many small gripes that build up as the disc goes on that I find make this a mixed bag.

To start off the album, a classic thrash track springs forth in "Eternal Heat". At this point I was ecstatic, hoping this was a hint that the entire album would be a nod to the balls out aggression of "Force Fed". Unfortunately, this was about as good as it got for me on this one. The thrash shows up again in "List Of Grievances" but all other tracks are attempts at the more midpaced groove stomp of the "Cleansing" album. I say attempts because despite having some decent riff bases, the rest of this album is kind of a pale rehash of past ideas that don't gel together quite as I was expecting.

All of the songs show the potential of head moving power, but the rather weak production and over melodic songwriting waters it down considerably. The songs aren't quite Nickelback, but show some shades of bland radio rock that ruins what could be a set of true bruisers. Even the last few Prong releases, while being a little too industrial/nu metal for my tastes, still brought a ton of raging heaviness that "Carved Into Stone" lacks.

I certainly wouldn't advise skipping this one, because there are a few redeeming moments, and for the avid fan, it still sounds like Prong. But if you're expecting unrelenting mosh pit metal, be cautioned.

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