Prong- X No Absolute (2016)

Prong- X No Absolute (2016)

By: Ghost Writer

Skeletons, Danzig latest recording easily became a favorite of mine, it was a record that made Glen Danzig sound revitalized, but it hold guitarist Tommy Victor a little back, it kind of restrained Victor a little bit, so it was obvious that the man responsible for some really bad ass guitar, to come back with a vengeance, and that vengeance coming in the form of a new Prong record.

Prong became the vehicle that gave us Tommy Victor, a great guitarist that redefined how a metal guitar should sound, making Prong the missing link between traditional Thrash bands like Anthrax and Metallica and modern metal avatars like Helmet, Korn and Pantera, for Victor, the metal guitar should become a groove instrument, he created a totally new school of dynamical riffing to go along with a fluid rhythm section, initially seen as an awkward Thrash Metal band, with the years and talent, Victor and his band were able to "prove you wrong" and demonstrate that they were something beyond Thrash.

X No Absolutes is Prong new record, one in which the band is going back to its Thrash roots and featuring Tommy's trademark groove guitars, just check out the man smoking behind the six strings in the razor sharp Ultimate Authority, a powerful metallic song whose guitars may help us remind that neither Helmet nor Pantera were so original after all, and if power is what this is all about, there's the straight thrashing of Sense of Ease.

I have declared that Danzig's Circle of Snakes is one of the heaviest guitar records ever, and Tommy Victor is responsible for that, here on Cut and Dry, Victor is able to combine those obliterating guitar with lava drums and a great sense of dynamics introducing great doses of melody into the already volatile mix, and if that wasn't enough, next comes the brutal attack of No Absolutes, a total stellar performance by the band at full speed.

Perhaps the only weak spot on X No Absolutes is the lack of experimentation on the record, Victor and company travel roads that they know too well, even going really accessible on tunes like Ice Runs Through My Veins, losing here a little bit of power and resting the impact of the overall record, nevertheless, Prong really knows how to make great outstanding records, that if not strengthen the band's reputation, at least keeps them above the norm.