{"id":49860,"date":"2015-07-18T08:40:10","date_gmt":"2015-07-18T13:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/?p=49860"},"modified":"2015-07-18T08:40:10","modified_gmt":"2015-07-18T13:40:10","slug":"praying-mantis-legacy-cd-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/2015\/praying-mantis-legacy-cd-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Praying Mantis | Legacy<\/em>"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines<\/span>
\n– Senior Columnist —<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"PrayingIt has been way too long since NWOBHM-turned-melodic rock band Praying Mantis delivered some new music. It’s been four years since their Metamorphosis<\/em> release, and that was just an EP of re-recordings. Their last proper studio album \u2013 the excellent Sanctuary<\/em> \u2013 was released back in 2009. After yet another round of lineup changes, Praying Mantis is back with a new album, titled Legacy<\/em>. Legacy<\/em> is either their ninth or tenth studio release, depending on how you classify the Stratus<\/em> album, and is the first to feature drummer Hans in’t Zandt and vocalist John \u201cJaycee\u201d Cujipers. It also marks the return of cover artist Rodney Matthews, whose art graced the earliest Praying Mantis classics.<\/p>\n

Praying Mantis has always delivered memorable Melodic Rock albums, and Legacy<\/em> is no exception. There’s still a bit of their heavy metal roots here, especially in the twin guitars of Tino Troy and Andy Burgess, but it’s the band’s focus on melody that drives the album, and what makes these songs hit home right from the start. Melody and a slight metal edge, epic, dramatic songwriting, and some very impressive vocals. Praying Mantis always seems to find the best new singers. Aside from some cover bands and a one-off appearance on an Ayreon release, Jaycee Cujipers is a relative unknown, but that’s sure to change after this. Cujipers has a steady, powerful voice (he sings for a Dio tribute band if that tells you anything) that’s just perfect for this kind of Melodic Rock. Even more so when he’s backed by the Troy brothers on the soaring choruses.<\/p>\n

It’s hard to call out a couple of standout tracks here. Legacy<\/em> features eleven new songs, and they’re all very strong. Leadoff single \u201cFight For Your Honour\u201d captures the spirit of Legacy quite well, but you could pick, \u201cTokyo,\u201d \u201cAgainst the World\u201d or \u201cEyes of a Child\u201d and still seal the deal. Even the more traditional love song \u201cThe One\u201d has pomp and power. What’s the old catchphrase – \u201call killer, no filler?\u201d Well, in this case that’s spot on.<\/p>\n

Even though it has been six long years, Legacy is undeniably worth the wait. It’s a more than worthwhile addition to the Praying Mantis discography, and is one of the strongest melodic rock albums 2015 has to offer. Whether you’ve been following Praying Mantis since the NWOBHM days or have never heard them before, if you’re a fan of high quality melodic rock, especially bands like Pretty Maids, Allen-Lande and House of Lords, Legacy is a must-have album.<\/p>\n

Genre: Melodic Rock<\/p>\n

Band:
\nTino Troy (g) (v)
\nChris Troy (b) (v)
\nAndy Burgess (g)
\nJohn \u201cJaycee\u201d Cuijpers (v)
\nHans in’t Zandt (d)<\/p>\n

Track Listing:
\n1.\tFight For Your Honour
\n2.\tThe One
\n3.\tBelievable
\n4.\tTokyo
\n5.\tBetter Man
\n6.\tAll I See
\n7.\tEyes of a Child
\n8.\tThe Runner
\n9.\tAgainst the World
\n10.\tFallen Angel
\n11.\tSecond Time Around<\/p>\n

Label: Frontiers Records<\/p>\n

Website: www.prayingmantisukrockmetal<\/a><\/p>\n

Hardrock Haven rating: 9\/10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Justin Gaines – Senior Columnist — It has been way too long since NWOBHM-turned-melodic rock band Praying Mantis delivered some new music. It’s been four years since their Metamorphosis release, and that was just […]<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":49861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12394],"tags":[2317,374,1291,2901,11469],"class_list":{"0":"post-49860","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arcrvws2015","8":"tag-cd-review","9":"tag-frontiers-records","10":"tag-legacy","11":"tag-melodic-rock","12":"tag-praying-mantis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49860","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49860"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49860\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49860"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49860"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hardrockhaven.net\/online\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49860"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}