I was an early adopter when it comes to Prong. It was a schoolmate Greg Jackson (hello Greg if you’re reading this, or if you know a Greg Jackson who went to Wimbledon College and then Westminster High School in the late 80s/early 90s pass on my regards) who implored me to purchase the raw majesty of the debut record, Force Fed. We saw them at the late lamented Harlesden Mean Fiddler, and they were a feeding frenzy of unconnected notes, a million miles away from the house-trained metal that I was used to.

I’ve kept a watching brief over their subsequent career, every now and again diving into their rapidly evolving sound. “State of Emergency” is album number 13, and they have long since become a project of main man Tommy Victor and whoever he can get to surround him this week. I was pleasantly surprised by the musical depth at play within this album. Its tempo is distinctively thrash orientated but actually it has a lot more weight to it than that. 

Alongside the driving riffs, there is a groove to the delivery that feels almost primal. The songwriting comes across as measured and, to some degrees, experimental as if they are not content with simply staying in one Musical Lane. Overall, I found my interest and imagination much more engaged than it has been with any Prong album for the last 20 years.