Judas Priest – Blood Stained
Katmandu – God Part II
Souls At Zero – Souls At Zero
Soundgarden – Face Pollution
Screaming Trees – Tomorrow’s Dream
Sacred Reich – Heal
Monster Magnet – Atomic Clock
Ministry – Just One Fix
Prong – Prove You Wrong
White Zombie – Black Sunshine
Suicidal Tendencies – Possessed (90s version)
Life Of Agony – Drained
Iommi – Flame On
This month’s Classic Albums Column focuses on Prong’s Cleansing. Mars Attacks Podcast episode 38 features an interview with Prong guitarist/lead singer Tommy Victor, along with comments from Gene Hoglan. As we established with the previous podcast we also discuss why this album was selected. You will find the podcast at the bottom of this post.
Click here to go to an index page that gives you details on everyone involved in the column.
This time around we have an interview with Ted Parsons drummer of Prong on Cleansing. As you can see from the interview he has been quite busy since his time in the band!
What was it like to write Cleansing?
It was a collaboration between Tommy , myself and sometimes Raven.. I would come up with a groove or Tommy would come up with a riff and we would jam in the studio and write tunes old school.
Tell us a little bit about the recording process.
It was the first time working with Terry date which was great. I´m sure Tommy can go in to more detail. We were all still living in NYC at the time. It was the first time I thought we finally had our sound and songs. We mixed at Electric Lady land which I thought was a big bore. I hate big fancy studios run by snobs.
Was there anything that the band was trying to accomplish with this album?
We wanted to make a great record of course, dry and in your face. I think we succeeded.
There is a big Killing Joke influence with this particular album, was this done intentionally?
Tommy and I have always been musically influenced by Killing Joke from the start. It just felt natural with Raven in the mix.
How did bringing Paul Raven and John Bechdel into the band affect the album?
Ravens bass sound was more what Tommy and I wanted. John brought in the added effects to spice up the tracks in the studio. We needed a key board player so we could do the samples live. I was playing most of the sounds using triggers and it freed me up to concentrate on drumming.
Does it surprise you that tracks off of this album are still played on metal radio, and at sporting events?
No not at all it still sounds fresh.
Does it bother you that more than a few bands have heavily “borrowed” from Prong, while not properly acknowledging the band’s influence?
No not really. Everyone rips off ideas and sounds from other people. It´s just how you present it.
In hindsight what impact do you think Cleansing made on your career and on metal?
It was definitely one of the best Prong albums in my opinion. Good songs, good drumming, great production. I never thought being in Prong as a career. Drumming is something that I needed to do and always will be doing.
Before Raven’s passing there was a rumor that this lineup might get back together again and tour, is there any truth to that?
Yes there was talk about it but nothing ever came of it. Raven was kicking around the idea to me a couple times. Tommy asked me a few years ago to come back to play with Prong after Raven died. They were opening for Soul Fly for a US tour and the drummer at the time, Aaron Rossi was off doing a Revolting Cocks tour. I was too busy with moving and other things. I can’t say if I would go back to play Prong music, but never say never.
What are you currently working on?
Building a new recording studio /rehearsal space. Jesu, Treponem Pal,Dark Drive Clinic (producer John Fryers project). Necessary, Teledubgnosis, Dub Neurotic and a host of other projects. I have done a lot of session work over the years. And been teaching drums in Oslo Norway where I live.
Where can people go to keep up to date with what you’re doing?
Facebook,and My space is a good start. Always looking for interesting bands and musicians to work with. Contact me through Facebook for some TP drumming!
Ted Parson MySpace
Ted Parson Facebook
Necessary MySpace
Jesu MySpace
Teleduenosis Official Web Site
Gretsh Drums
Remo Heads
Zildjian Artist Page
Artist Page
“The music business is a cruel and shallow money trench, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free, and good men die like dogs. There’s also a negative side.”
- Hunter S. Thompson
Here are comments that have been contributed to us by others regarding this album. Remember to check out the index page if you’re not sure who someone is, or to check out their sites to find out more about what they do. Again, these comments are in the order we’ve received them.
Dan Lorenzo – In 1992 NON-FICTION were hoping to open for Prong in Europe. We were shot down by Tommy Victor because we “weren’t heavy enough.”. Almost 20 years later you still remember stuff like this. I don’t own or know this cd. I know Prong had a few amazing songs. I know Tommy also once said he was the first guy to tune down to C in 1994. By that time I had already recorded 3 cds tuned down to C. But Jimmy Page did it before me.
Jon Leon – Never got into prong but they had a unique sound.
Joel Gausten – The first four songs are strong enough to make up for the dragging parts in the album’s second half. To be honest, I’ve never been a fan of the drum sound on this one, although Ted Parsons is a stellar player and one of the nicest guys on the planet.
Metal Mike – When I heard this, I said this is new. It was Metal, but not only. It has a new way of playing and structuring guitar riffs. I listened to this album non stop for a while.
Erik Kluiber – Hung out with the drummer and did a zine interview with him back in the 90s. Very down to earth guy.
Scott Middleton – Definitely one of the most underrated bands ever. I loved how heavy and simple this band could be. Tommy Victor’s vocals and guitar riffs always had purpose and carried such sinister melody. Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck is a 90′s metal classic that still sounds far more evil than most extreme metal. Combining influences from metal, industrial and post hardcore, Cleansing is truly a record that stood apart from so many other at the time.
Jane Alisabeth Grey – As riff-laden and aggressive as Prong is, what is striking about their “Cleansing” album is
their ability to groove. Bands like Prong and Faith No More sidestepped
that whole “metal can only be brutal” ethos and pioneered the idea that Heavy Music can be aggressive as hell while being unabashed about the song
having a groove to it. I feel that Prong are the obvious Progenitors of
bands like Biohazard & Pantera, however, now that industrial metal has some history, you can clearly hear the influence(recognized or not) by bands like Nine Inch Nails. This album has multiple moving guitar parts that sync together like a clock or time piece that really originate the modern industrial music sound.
JL – The 90s saw a change towards new forms of metal, Prong were pioneers in this sense. For this album, the crushing sound that has characterized Terry Date’s productions helped form a solid base that is displayed on this album. It also manifests what would become popular in metal shortly thereafter.
David Gonzalez – I actually don’t know Prong, or any of their hit. But since the album appeared on the list, I went back and listened to Cleansing. Initially it sounds like a good thrash album (with a leaning towards what seems to be their hardcore past), but the album doesn’t totally convince me. The album is possibly the band’s biggest release, and the guitars on the album sound very powerful, but I’m not fully convinced. The drumming on the album sounds too monotonous on every track. Something similar happens with the singing as well (the same thing happens when I listen to Fu Manchu), the singing just sounds all alike, and just tires me after a while. Perhaps my evaluation of this album isn’t good, and I’m not saying this is necessarily a bad album; it’s just a matter of opinion. I just feel that it doesn’t stand out as much as other albums that came out around the same time.
Angel Rubin – I still remember the impact made by several albums released in that year, like Chaos A.D. by Sepultura, Far Beyond Driven by Pantera, and Cleansing by the New York band Prong. Oh how metal world changed during the early 90s. You could almost see it on the horizon, metal was going to get quite a bit heavier. Tommy Victor, Ted Parsons, Paul Raven and John Bechdel who helped incorporate keyboards on this album. They were able to create a project that was pure hardcore thrash, full of masterful riffs by Tommy Victor, one of the great riff masters of the 90s. Machine Head themselves took notice of Tommy’s riffs, and used them as a reference when laying down guitar tracks on so many of their albums.
The album is well ahead of its time with potent tracks like “Another Worldly Device” which makes you bounce from the first infectious beat that is laid down by Ted Parsons. His playing is consistent, and powerful throughout. Another bombastic track is “Whose Fist Is This Anyway?”, when listening to this track today you can tell where a band like Rammstein get a good bit of inspiration. “Snap Your Fingers, Snap Your Neck” is one of the band’s most recognizable tracks. The song’s riffs are borderline thrash, and are mixed in with machine like drumming that moves full speed ahead. The track also features some double bass by Ted, and Tommy showing his teeth while mixing some rap like aspects into his frantic style of singing. The album moves forward with the pure thrash of Cut-Rate, the track surprises with a great solo during the middle of the song. On Broken Peace we start to see other influences creep in, this track contains a riff that contains a heavy reggae leanings before converting itself into a punishing heavy track with a killer chorus.
The album moves on with tracks like One Outnumbered, Out Of This Misery, and No Question which is a clear influence on Machine Head’s 90s albums. On Not Of This Earth the band seems to experiment a bit, trying to expand their musical horizons. To me this song has always reminded me of Alice In Chains. While Home Rule, and Sublime, hese are tracks that are more experimental, more personal, and different from the rest, with a hint of darkness. With Test they stylistically return to the first few songs off of the album, perhaps sounding a bit closer to Agnostic Front and Madball in the process, but adding that extra ingredient that separates Prong from the pack. The track also includes a quick but intense solo.
Summing things up, I think the band was a big influence on all of the bands mentioned above, along with a million other “metal-core” bands. Groups like Chimaira, Still Remains, Caliban, Throwdown, Slipknot, Hatebreed, and Pantera themselves. These bands owe Prong a debt of gratitude as most of them would not sound the same or would simply not existed if it was not for Prong.
The podcast portion can be streamed or downloaded from here:
The latest episode of Mars Attacks Podcast features interviews with Hades guitar tandem Dan Lorenzo, and Scott LaPage. The first half of the episode contains an interview with Scott in which he touches on his new band The Freeze Tag Assassins, his blues playing and the Hades reunion (among other things). During the Dan Lorenzo segment, he discusses not only the Hades show, but being featured in Moshed Potatoes, the soon to be released Hades and Non-Fiction split DVD, the possibility of their being new music from either band, and the current status of The Cursed which features Blitz from Overkill, and Scream Metal the cover band he shares with Alan Tecchio (also of Hades and Non-Fiction) and Mark Strigl, and John Ostronomy of Talking Metal fame.
Dan not being one to mix words has some interesting comments regarding the Big 4, and alludes to the fact that Hades was playing a certain Joe Jackson cover well in advance of another New York Tri-state area band.
Here is the playlist for episode 31, all of these songs were released in 1992, or songs with asterisks next to them depict groups that had breakups or important member changes that year.
Kiss – Unholy
Iron Maiden – Fear Of The Dark
Lynch Mob – Tangled In Your Web
Vince Neil – Look In Her Eyes*
Motley Crue – Uncle Jack*
Ratt – Nobody Rides For Free*
Exodus – Bitch*
Pantera – Fucking Hostile
Tool – Part Of Me
Bad Religion – Generator
Alice In Chains – Got Me Wrong
Testament – Electric Crown
W.A.S.P. – Chainsaw Charlie
Black Sabbath – Computer God
Ministry – Just One Fix
Beastie Boys – Time For Living
King’s X – Black Flag
Manic Street Preachers – Slash & Burn
Faith No More – Be Aggressive
Def Leppard – Tear It Down
Biohazard – Punishment
Body Count – Bowels Of The Devil
Rage Against The Machine – Know Your Enemy
AC/DC – That’s The Way I Wanna Rock N Roll
The Offspring – Kick Him When He’s Down
Manowar – Metal Warriors
Warrant – Inside Out
Ugly Kid Joe – Goddamn Devil
Nine Inch Nails – Gave Up
Suicidal Tendencies, Monopoly On Sorrow
Kyuss – Green Machine
Megadeth – Foreclosure Of A Dream
Dream Theater – Take The Time
Motorhead – Ain’t No Nice Guy
Fear Factory – Martyr
Extreme – Warheads
White Zombie – Black Sunshine
Have you ever listened to a song and instantly been taken to a certain time period in your life? Well that’s what this episode is all about. It also helps further the fact that hard rock and metal were alive and well in the 90s, and that the decade offered a lot of great music. This episode is centered exclusively around songs that came out that year, or tied to events that took place in 92. You’ll hear tracks from the following bands:
Kiss, Iron Maiden, Lynch Mob, Vince Neil, Motley Crue, Ratt, Exodus, Pantera, Tool, Bad Religion, Alice In Chains, Testament, W.A.S.P., Black Sabbath, Ministry, Beastie Boys, King’s X, Manic Street Preachers, Faith No More, Def Leppard, Biohazard, Body Count, Rage Against The Machine, AC/DC, The Offspring, Manowar, Warrant, Ugly Kid Joe, Nine Inch Nails, Suicidal Tendencies, Kyuss, Megadeth, Dream Theater, Motorhead, Fear Factory, Extreme and White Zombie.
Episode debuts tonight 8PM EST / 5PM PST exclusively on MarkStriglRadio.com
Yesterday I gave you a review of White Wizzard’s Over The Top, today I bring you a review of Rob Zombie’s Hellbilly Deluxe 2.
I´ll admit that I´m not the world´s biggest Rob Zombie fan, and when I heard that he named his new album Hellbilly Deluxe 2, I became skeptical like a lot of you. A lot of sequels, just plain suck, but I saw the pre-order come up on iTunes, and figured, hell he´s always good for about four decent songs (minimum) on his albums, so why not? As I result, I pulled the trigger and ordered the album. I have to tell you, I was pleasantly surprised with the album once it became available.
Now Rob isn´t reinventing anything here, and you know what who cares? Will someone that´s waiting for the Triptikon album to come out enjoy this? Probably not, because it´s more than likely not “metal” enough for them. But I don´t think he´s trying to go after that market, and there´s nothing wrong with that. You usually know what to expect from Rob, and it´s almost always a little weird, a little strange, has a dash of sex, mixed in with a horror or outer space theme, hella fun and very entertaining when it´s on. The music isn´t overly complex, it´s pretty straight forward, and focused, something that hasn´t happened on a Rob Zombie album in a while.
The album starts out with “Jesus Frankenstein”, which sounds like a track that could have made its way onto an old White Zombie album. Then all of a sudden, this acoustic part hits you courtesy of John 5 (will Marilyn Manson ever cop to the fact that he never should have fired him?). Jimmy Clufetos drum track on this song is very raw, as it is throughout an entire album, which also features a drum solo in a latter track. The current single “Sick Bubblegum” is up next, with a traditional chugging guitar/bass riff reminiscent of so many other previous Zombie songs. “What?” is the single that was initially released on iTunes before the pre-order was made available, another catchy tune where Rob applies a distortion effect on his voice. Accompanying them on this track is an organ apropos of a classic horror flick. The next track “Mars Needs Woman”…angry red woman, starts out with an acoustic riff well suited for an episode of Deadwood. Then all of a sudden Zombie jumps in with Clufetos, and John 5 follows suit with the type of playing we´re accustomed hearing from him. Mr. Lowry gives us a mix of chords with a shrieking note over top that sounds as if he´s using a Whammy pedal, but knowing this six string genius, it´s probably something completely different. “Werewolf, Baby” starts out with some classic southern rock riffage (more classic John 5), before Zombie comes in clearly showing off his Alice Cooper influence, before kicking it up a registry for the song´s chorus. The chorus is constructed with a melody that´s difficult to get out of your head (this has been a common theme with releases over the past few months, seems like hooks and melody are back). Did someone say sex and horror? “Virgin Witch” is up next, it is another track that is very reminiscent of his earlier White Zombie work. It is the first track on the album that displays Zombie´s love of overlapping various sounds to create a pallet that is distinctly his. “Death And Destiny Inside The Dream Factory” is a quick little Ramones like tune, that has classic Zombie vocals doubled over top of this sololess song. “Burn” is a track that was made available a little while back as a free download. The best way that I can describe the song is as a mix between old White Zombie, “Thunderkiss” and some Joey Ramone type singing over top of the chorus, with the uh-huh-uh-uh-huh, etc. part. Another track that easily gets stuck in your head. “Cease to Exist” starts out with some Sabbath inspired riffing courtesy of John 5, it is the first song that has an abundant amount of sampling going on over top. Zombie´s vocals are also Ozzyesque on this track, further displaying the Sabbath influence in the track. “Werewolf Woman of the SS” is based on a fake trailer he made for the movie Grindhouse. The clip featured who else, but Rob´s wife Sheri Moon Zombie, if you´re a fan of his, you´re no stranger to her. Another classic Zombie track in the vein of “Superbeast”. “The Man Who Laughs” starts out with horror stylings that come courtesy of a string section. John 5 kicks in with a quick little solo ditty before Clufetos kicks in with, as mentioned above a drum solo! The solo lasts a few good minutes before John 5 and bassist Piggie D, and the string section kick things back into gear before wrapping up the song and album. If you bought the deluxe edition off of iTunes you´ll also receive three mostly forgettable remixes of “What?”, “Jesus Frankenstein”, and “Sick Bubblegum”. I don´t mind remixes, Rob´s put out plenty of good ones in the past, these just aren´t my cup of tea.
If you´re a long time fan of Rob Zombie, this album will be right up your valley. For those of you that don´t know any of his material, and don´t want a greatest hits, this might be a good introduction to the world of Rob Zombie. If you just want to kick back, and listen to some entertaining music while in the car or while kicking back some cold ones, this could be your album of choice!
Fusion Sonica Blabbermouth