Always more of a rock band than metal practitioners, Praying Mantis's inception during the NWOBHM heyday always seemed to me like bad timing.
Consequently theirs career path was a difficult one, taking them down cul-de-sacs and dead ends.
In this, their 30
th Anniversary year, they've released
'Metalmorphosis', a perfectly chosen repertoire that embraces the birth of a band, in the form of a 5 track EP of re-recorded songs from the debut album and before.
There are the pre album singles,
'Praying Mantis' and
'Captured City', and there are
'Children Of The Earth',
'Lovers To The Grave' and
'Panic In The Streets', taken from the debut,
'Time Tells No Lies'.
Indeed it does not, and these tracks stand up well.
Wisely, the band have chosen not to indulge in selfish reinterpretation, but to use today's studio technology to release the primitive power inherent in those original recordings.
Current vocalist, Mike Freeland fits the songs like a glove, and the band's glorious mix of axe solos, earnest lyrics, driving rhythms and soaring choruses still seems extraordinarily rich, even by today's standards.
Here's to the next 30 years.
Style: Classic Rock
Rating: 7.5/10Posted by
Brian - Thursday, March 17, 2011
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