Artist: Prong
Title: Power of the Damn Mixxxer
Type: Album
Label: 13th Planet Records
When I first caught Prong live, the best part of two decades ago they were unlike any other act on the scene: stripped back and industrial, the band lead the way for a whole new genre of metal, bereft of pomp, pummeling away at the audience like a machine. After several breaks, including periods playing for Rob Zombie, Danzig, and a long stint as guitarist for Ministry, Tommy Victor came back fronting a new three piece to tour with Power of the Damager. I was lucky to be amongst the packed crowd that caught the sole UK show promoting the album at London’s infamous Underworld on 9th January 2008, and the gig was truly a highlight of the year. Backed by bassist Monte Pillman and powered on by the gigantic Aaron Rossi blasting an almost funky beat from his minimalist drum kit, the band whipped up an insane pit with a combination of thrash, stoner, and uncompromising metal, the musicianship of the three perfectly highlighting the whole recording history of the band, as well as delivering frenzy inspiring numbers from the new album.
As such, over a year later, I approached with trepidation the new remix album, featuring a host of treatments from assorted metal producers and DJs. My reason for worrying about the album is that such remix albums are inexorably linked in my mind with lazy dance music cash-ins where music that only ever existed on a computer is simply tweaked to squeeze more beats per minute in and more money from the punters.
The Power of the Damn Mixxxer comes across as a whole new album, moving it away from the format of the live metal band, and into the realms of industrial gothic dance clubs. Rossi’s playing seems to have been almost entirely mutated or replaced by battering drum machines, whilst Victor’s vocals have been twisted into a whole new dark mechanized form, his guitar work firing out in short blasting samples. Bass lines come in tight loops from synths, whilst tracks like ‘Message Inside of Me’ has a creepy ambient sound. ‘No Justice’ twists Victor’s vocals into short distorted bursts like the screams of a tormented soul, the words being lost as the voice becomes another instrument.
There is no doubt that Tommy Victor has been an innovative experimenter, and as such, this new album fits well within the canon of his work. It may well find a new audience amongst ravers and cybergoths, and anything that brings the band to a greater prominence can only be a good thing. If, however, I could only have one album, I would personally go for the original ‘Power of the Damager’, a superlative metal album that showcases the skills of three live musicians, rather the ‘Mixxxer’.
http://www.myspace.com/prong
http://www.prongmusic.com
Spenny Bullen
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