#365 Prong — Inside the 90s: Beg to Differ, The Cleansing & Rude Awakening

New York City. A place where the subways never close, you can hit any deli, diner, or pizzeria in town at all hours (“in the middle of the night”) for a bite to eat, and your soul will become properly calloused with a “G.F.Y.” mentality and attitude in the most hard core, New York way imaginable.

And when it comes to infusing that kind of attitude into metal, NYC’s PRONG has quite literally turned that into an artform.

Formed in “The City That Never Sleeps” in 1986, PRONG had two independent releases (Primitive Origins in 1987 & Force Fed in 1988) before signing to Epic records in 1989.

With a sonic palette consisting of crossover thrash which would eventually morph into the “then” emerging sound of groove metal* combined with subtly understated industrial soundscapes, PRONG would become one of the earliest crossover bands to blend thrash, groove, and industrial metal into a unique, attitude driven style that would heavily impact the next wave of metal to come in the 90’s.

Get yourself a taste of the brand-new single “The Banner” from Prong’s forthcoming self-titled album, realize that snakes “roll around and do stuff” just like people do (“in the middle of the night”) and get ready for a special, remixed edition of the Outro Reel that will absolutely leave you breathless when you JOIN US as we go INSIDE THE 90’s with PRONG.

(*Yes, even before that other groove metal band from the 90’s whose name also starts with the letter “P”).

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Show Notes & Time Stamps:

(00:01): “I always love proving points…it’s fun to prove points…”/ #EvilBean /

“I thought it’d be a great bit, but I thought it’d be an even better skit…” / #Blackman /

#SamuelLJackson / “I saw that Jim Carrey was gonna do The Jetsons…”/

“Is that fake Jim Carrey or weirdly botoxed Jim Carrey?”/ “The dude’s been facelifted…” / “You put it in your mouth!”/ #markthetime /

“I found out how snakes fuck…they roll around and do stuff…” / #parthenogenesis /

***WARNING: #listenerdiscretionisadvised ***

“Oh man, I wanna put my snake in a box…I need to…”

(05:43): ***WELCOME BACK TO THE METAL NERDERY PODCAST!!!*** /

“The meat has a little bit of a salty finish…and it’s kinda hard in my mouth…”/ #markthetime

***PATREON US at www.patreon.com/metalnerderypodcast ***

***SOCIAL MEDIA US at #metalnerderypodcast #YouTube #InstaGram #Facebook #TikTok *** / ***EMAIL US at metalnerdery@gmail.com ***

“As long as she fits…as long as I fit…I’m gonna fit…”

***VOICEMAIL US at 980-666-8182!!!*** / “I do have a voicemail…but it’s 2 minutes long…”

“I like the long ones…”/ #AmericanDave /

“Why don’t you tell ‘em how you like to do your cocaine enemas and blast ABBA in the middle of the night…”/ “We were just talking about that S.O.D. episode…”

(13:38): “Oh wait…let’s ASK THE METALHEAD…”/ #AskTheMetalhead /

“What is the perfect starter album for someone brand new to heavy metal?” /

“Which metal vocalist change made the band better?”/

“Why does everything have to suck?” /

“I don’t even think the people who bitch about that phrase know what that phrase means…”/ “Gaykeepers? Or Gatekeepers?” / “How about some ‘This or That?’…”/

“Alright, last one: Should metal albums have ballads?” /

“I guess it depends on what you would call a ballad…”/

“I’d be curious to hear a Slayer ballad…” /

“I’ve gotta tell you this…” / “Not even ‘Thad’…’THAT’!” / #drivethruaudio #pronouns

(26:30): #TheDocket METAL NERDERY PODCAST PRESENTS: PRONG – INSIDE THE 90’S/ #NYC / #Prong / “They formed in 1986…”/

“They’ve always had a nice mix of thrash, industrial, and groove…”/

“Prong has a new album coming out very soon, their eponymously titled Prong…”/

“This is an educational episode for us…”

(30:00): Beg To Differ (1990) / FOR DEAR LIFE / “This feels like high school…”/

BEG TO DIFFER / LOST AND FOUND / “I’ve heard this (Lost and Found) before…it sounds very familiar…”/ “It’s very, very tight…it’s almost claustrophobic…in a good way…”

(NOTE: The quietest room in the world (not just America) is an anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis, MN) / #anechoic

(36:50): “Fast forward to 1991…” Prove You Wrong (1991) / IRRELEVANT THOUGHTS /

“We’re only doing the 90’s today…” / BRAINWAVE /

“I can’t place the guitar (on Prove You Wrong) …tell me what it sounds like…I swear I’ve heard it somewhere before, but I can’t place it…” / PROVE YOU WRONG /

“That’s very Zeppelin…”/ “It does have that Jimmy Page…weird, twangly, sloppy-ish…sound.”

(43:48): The Cleansing (1994) / Produced by Terry Date / ANOTHER WORLDLY DEVICE /

“It’s probably more groove metal than thrash…”/

“It’s like a more hardcore version of Helmet…like an angrier Helmet…”/ #markthetime /

CUT-RATE / “(Regarding the guitar solo) It’s almost like Deep Purple…like the Speed King solo…”/ HOME RULE / “You playing a game over there? / “Glad you’re present…”/

“That’s a nasty guitar sound…I like it.”/ “It’s definitely got an attitude…it’s like a ‘more attitude Helmet’…”/ “That’s just straight up ‘Fuck You!’ …”/ #NewYorkEthos /

“The streets of New York, after hours, riding the subway…I’ve gotta tell y’all this since we’re talking about New York…”/ #AndrewDiceClay / “Oh bless your heart…fuck off.”/

“How about the big hit single?”/ SNAP YOUR FINGERS, SNAP YOUR NECK

(58:58): “So now we’re up to ’96…” / Rude Awakening (1996) /

“If this is your first time checking out this podcast, whenever we’re talking about ‘coke lines’…if you go into Amazon music and you’re looking at the ratings, that’s what we’re talking about… the more coke lines, the better…” / CONTROLLER / #recordscratch /

“Where were we…You wanna see these?”/ RUDE AWAKENING / “It’s almost got a weird NIN vibe…”/

“Something about the way he does riffs…I can’t explain it…when (Tommy Victor) does the Tommy Victor thing, it’s like when (Tony) Iommi does the trill…or when Page (Hamilton) does the weird, ringy, Helmet chords…” / SLICING / “Here’s the lesson here, folks…don’t let the coke lines fool ya…”/ CLOSE THE DOOR /

“I do like his use of the industrial stuff…it’s kind of understated; it’s not in your face…”

(1:11:00): “They took a little bit of a break…” /

(NOTE: The new album is coming out November 6, 2026) /

THE BANNER (Prong – 2026) / “That’s like a return to form…the thrashiness of it.”/ “That rhythm section is a monstrosity!” / “We learned some new stuff today…Prong, 90’s edition…”/ THANK YOU FOR JOINING US!!! / #untilthenext #outroreel #extendedremix