Drum roll please … or maybe a hearty dose of blast-beats! Tis the season to commence the good, bad and ugly of 2014! Of course we’re talking about BravePicks 2014, where all the staff put their collective metal minds together to build the ultimate lists including individual Top 20s (new studio albums ONLY),  Top 5 Brave Embarrassments, Top 3 Concerts, What/Who Needs To Stop In 2015? and Metal Predictions For 2015.

BravePicks 2014

29) PRONG – Ruining Lives (SPV / Steamhammer)

 

Prong started “ruining our lives” in April. With Tommy Victor in the producer’s chair and Steve Evetts (Hatebreed, Sick Of It All, Sepultura) once again coming in to put his trademark shine on the record, the follow-up to 2012's Carved Into Stone became “a hybrid between NY Hardcore and some very modern, song-oriented work,” stated leader Tommy Victor. “You will find some Rude Awakening but also some solid, crushing riffs. I feel we have captured the best elements of Prong on this album. 'Come To Realize' is something new - we have never approached this kind of time-signature. It really is math-metal meets pure hardcore with a crazy-ass riff. What’s exciting about the whole album is you have your hooks, your riffs and something innovative that makes the album very current. This qualifies as the hybrid nature of Prong: marrying post-punk, industrial metal, hardcore thrash and modern elements — all of that with hooks and not just a bunch of screaming.”

 

Ruining Lives is “the fastest written and recorded Prong album ever,” Tommy told BraveWords. Just how quickly are we talking? “It’s the fastest of all time. Back in the old days, Prong would go in and write a couple songs; then we’d go out and play some gigs locally. We’d sort of piece it together. Later on, when we had the Epic budgets, those processes were on the other end of the spectrum where the label wanted to hear demos and blah, blah, blah. With Carved Into Stone, we didn’t have a record deal, so we had to cut a demo; 14 songs were written for that and demoed again. Then with the additional songs, it was like 25 songs, and we had to knock that down to 12. It was a long process with a lot of songs to pick and choose from. This wasn’t anything like that at all. I was set with this time schedule; this is when the label wanted it delivered. And I wasn’t expecting to get called out and do Danzig for a month in October (2013). It was like, oh my God! I knew I had to go in and do this record, so I had my iPad with Garage Band, and started coming up with ideas. As soon as I got home I had to construct songs – it was bam, bam, bam – throw these things together, come up with lyrics, work on the basic tracks. Then before you knew it I was cutting vocals and we were mixing the damn thing; it was crazy fast!”

 

BravePicks 2014 Top 30

29) PRONG – Ruining Lives (SPV / Steamhammer)

30) GAMMA RAY – Empire Of The Undead (EarMusic)