I thought Prong was cutting edge industrial metal when I first heard them, on the remarkable "Beg To Differ", which does not get its due for a groundbreaking lean and mean slashing masterwork. Tommy Victor played with ferocity and a hungry attitude, with short soloes but guitar patterns that could set your brain fluid boiling. After the misstep of "Prove You Wrong", they came back with "Cleansing", regarded as their high water mark that set the tone for "Power Of The Damager" with brutal guitars and catchy rhythm work that blasted you into hamburger with a beat.
"Power Of The Damager" is a great Prong CD, full of the energy of "Cleansing", but rife with hostility and hooks. Victor wants to beat you senseless, but do it to a groove. This is industrial without the computers and metal enough to satisfy any Meshuggahh or Fear Factory fan. Prong were pioneers of what one could call the future of heavy music, and sadly even broke up for a time because weenie bands from the alt rock world were hogging up the airwaves. Give this outfit the credit it has earned and deserves. Get the whole catalogue, with maybe the exception of "Prove You Wrong", and a shrug to "Rude Awakening", which was anticlimatic as a follow up to "Cleansing".