X-No Absolutes Prong 2016 SPV/Steamhammer Records Prong are a Heavy Metal band from the USA with a sound that encompasses Thrash Metal with a sound of Crossover and Hardcore Punk. Prong are led by the ever present Tommy Victor who, through his lyrics and blend of musical style, manage to make Prong so appealing. X-No Absolutes is the 11th studio album by Prong and is the follow up to 2015’s album of covers, Songs from the Black Hole. X-No Absolutes follows on from Songs from the Black Hole by having the same line-up of Victor taking on guitar and vocals, Jason Christopher on the bass and Art Cruz taking the place of the drummer. The production of X-No Absolutes was once more handled by dependable metal producer, Chris Collier, who along with X-No Absolutes, has also produced this year, the latest albums by Flotsam And Jetsam and Metal Church. Once more, Collier sprinkles his magic onto X-No Absolutes making a great sounding album that not only sticks to the roots of Prong, but also at times, is sleek enough to be played on the radio, such as Do Nothing open up Prong to a fan base who may not have heard what Prong are about. The musicianship on X-No Absolutes is as you have come to expect from Prong. Victor does what he needs to do with his voice, proving that Victor’s voice not only suits Punk, but can easily lend itself to Thrash Metal and unlike many of his peers who have mellowed as they’ve got older, Victor sounds as angry as he did back in the late 80’s. The sound and tone of Victor’s guitar perfectly compliments the feeling of rage that bleeds through X-No Absolutes. The bass of Christopher more than suits to be played behind Victor’s guitar. Christopher’s bass is fluid and groovy, especially on the title track itself. The drums of Cruz are a brilliant mix of metal and punk, showing that Cruz is capable of blast beating, but also capable of going hell for leather in the style accustomed to Hardcore Punk. The beauty of X-No Absolutes is that none of the members of Prong overplay, but does exactly what it is necessary and many a band should take a leaf out of Prong’s book. Looking back at the covers album, Songs from the Black Hole that was released last year, Prong needed that to bed in this line-up rather than blasting straight into the studio. From the way Victor has conducted this business, Prong have managed to come up with a decent album full of good songs. The opening track Ultimate Authority is a big slab of classic Prong with other highlights on the album being Soul Sickness, Without Words, the title track and the Killing Joke sounding Ice Runs Through My Veins. X-No Absolutes clocks in at just over 41 minutes and is the perfect length, every single track on the album flows very nicely without X-No Absolutes losing your attention or becoming a chore to listen to. X-No Absolutes is a good album from Prong, who once more show they are masters of what they do. There are better albums that have been released this year, but they are many, many worse. At 41 minutes, X-No Absolutes is a pleasure to listen to and thoroughly enjoyable. 7/10 Adam No Absolutes (Victor)
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