As long as veteran thrash metalists Prong remember all the words their name rhymes with — strong, bong, shlong and, most importantly, song, they can't do anything to piss off their loyal following ever again.
Following a 1996 split, they returned with a premature reunion album, Scorpio Rising, that was short on hooks and long on shear musicianship. But now Prong's triumvirate is firing on all cylinders and the band's able to summon up the buzzcore of yore on tracks like the title cut and the mosh-pit inciting "Changing Ending Troubling Times." But they can also sound as commercial as a metalicized ZZ Top or a Tad crossed version of the Police on songs like "Worst Of It" or "Pure Ether." Occasionally, though, they drop the "n" and become "Prog" for a few measures — but other than that, Power of the Damager is a return to their early '90s fighting form, when grunge was something that caked on a carburetor and "industrial" sounds were just something factories made.
Serene Dominic writes about music for Metro Times. Send comments to [email protected].
