Nearly two years after the release of PRONG‘s latest album, “State Of Emergency”, the New York City native metal icons and premier rock and metal label Napalm Records have officially joined forces, inking a worldwide record deal.

Formed in 1986 by founder/frontman Tommy Victor and cemented into American metal legend, PRONG have never released their grip on the scene. From the ’80s club basements of New York City to the MTV “Headbangers Ball” era with ’90s classics “Beg To Differ”, “Prove You Wrong”, “Cleansing” and “Rude Awakening”, to their official return in the late aughts and today, PRONG have stood their ground as household names in the metal universe, continuing to put out grippingly gritty, provocative and vital records for the next generation of heavy music fans. Napalm Records is proud to welcome PRONG to their multifaceted roster.

Tommy Victor on signing to Napalm Records: “Oh, man, I am honored, thrilled and excited that PRONG is now with Napalm Records. It’s simply a fantastic label to be on. I’m so happy about it!”

PRONG‘s signing arrives just on the heels of the band’s upcoming European headline tour celebrating 31 years of their aforementioned 1994 album “Cleansing”, kicking off on July 30 in Hamburg, Germany. Featuring support from ESCUELA GRIND and VLAD IN TEARS, the trek will visit several European countries, coming to an end at Angeliter Open Air in Taarstedt, Germany on August 16. The tour will also see PRONG performing at Brutal Assault festival, Alcatraz Metal Festival, and many others.

Before the tour, PRONG will headline a one-off show in Amityville, New York, and post-tour in October, they’ll perform another one-off show at the Whisky A Go Go in Los Angeles before hitting the stage at Aftershock festival in Sacramento, California.

Asked by Metal Insider if he had any fond memories of making “Cleansing”, Victor said: “Yeah, in the studio, there’s a lot of fond memories. The preparation for it and the chaos that consumed the whole pre-production period, and I’ve been through it so many times in my career. Member changes, namely Troy Gregory leaving, and again the bulk of the work being thrown on me to solve all these problems while handling the business and personal matters. I remember that being extremely stressful. I think it catered to the inevitable/possible disappointment with ‘Rude Awakening’, and I just remembered how much work and how much sacrifices I had to make in order for those records to come into fruition. But the process was great. I mean, working with Terry Date was always a pleasure, more so on ‘Cleansing’. I got to mix a record with him at Electric Lady Studios in New York, which is an experience I will never forget. We had a lot of fun with the guitar tracks, and again with PRONG, it wound up being a solitary experience. That’s just the way it is. I mean, people tend to think a lot of times that when you’re making records, and I guess if you’re a rap artist this may not apply, you’re surrounded by this posse and everyone’s partying, you’re in the studio listening to the same track over and over again, bringing your buddies in to hear stuff, like as if that was the ’90s. It wasn’t like that for PRONG at all. I was in the studio all day long with Terry, making decisions, laying guitar tracks on it, vocals, and the traveling. At that point, the budget was enough where we did sessions in multiple places. Then when you finish the mixes, there’s always the mastering problem. That record was mastered four times before we settled on the brilliant mastering that we inevitably had. So, I mean, it’s a great-sounding record. There is an amazing magic to that record, and a lot of that record came together by accident. It was just one of those great moments in my life.”

“State Of Emergency” came out in October 2023 via Steamhammer/SPV. The LP was helmed by producer Steve Evetts (SEPULTURA, THE DILLINGER ESCAPE PLAN) and included a cover of “Working Man”, originally written and recorded by the legendary RUSH.

Prior to “State Of Emergency”‘s arrival, Victor stated about the LP’s stylistic direction: “It’s a very PRONG record. I think it’s totally genre-transcending and definitely ignores what’s going on out there these days.”

Commenting on his artistic approach, he said: “I like all kinds of music. This record totally reflects that because it covers lots of different angles. At the same time, ‘State Of Emergency’ is very guitar-oriented and a typical example of my style.'”

PRONG will celebrate the 31st anniversary of its album “Cleansing” with a limited series of intimate dates, as well as festival shows, in July and August 2025 in Europe.

The dates are as follows:

July 30 – Hamburg, Germany – Bahnhof Pauli
July 31 – Wacken, Germany – Wacken Open Air
August 01 – Berlin, Germany – Hole 44
August 02 – Aschaffenburg, Germany – Colos-Saal
August 03 – Stuttgart, Germany – Im Wizemann
August 05 – Aarburg, Switzerland – Musigburg
August 06 – München, Germany – Strom
August 07 – Nürnberg, Germany – Hirsch
August 08 – Josefov, Czech Republic – Brutal Assault Festival
August 10 – Kortrijk, Belgium – Alcatraz Metal Festival
August 12 – Essen, Germany – Turock
August 13 – Eindhoven, Netherlands – Dynamo
August 14 – Leeuwarden, Netherlands – Neushoorn
August 15 – Sulingen, Germany – Reload Festival
August 16 – Taarstedt, Germany – Angeliter Open Air