Praying Mantis (band)

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Praying Mantis is an English rock band. Despite being part of a new wave of British heavy metal scene, they are pursuing a more melodic direction of music and AOR-sounding than their contemporaries.

Video Praying Mantis (band)

Careers

Their formation strongly prioritizes the NWOBHM movement. They were formed in 1974 by Troy's brothers, Tino and Chris, both students. Like some NWOBHM bands, they made the first recording available at Neal Kay's Soundhouse recording studio, which was released as SoundPhoto EP in 1979.

1980 saw their profile increase with slot support for Iron Maiden and Ronnie Montrose's Gamma and "Captured City" included in the Metal for Muthas compilation. Caution won their record deal with Arista Records and they released their famous masterpiece of Time Notify Lies No Lies in 1981. The management and instability of the line-up ruined their success and Arista dropped them. The following year they signed for Jet Records, but the next two singles failed and the band was folded. They have recorded a version of the song written by Russ Ballard "I Surrender", but experienced a conflict with Rainbow, who later released their version, and received 10 world's top hits. Instead, Praying Mantis recorded another one, "Deceived". It reached No. 69 on the UK Singles Chart in January 1981.

The band retained a strong fan base in Japan, and when Troys temporarily reformed Praying Mantis for a NWOBHM nostalgic tour in 1990, they were encouraged by the response to awaken the band full time. Their live albums were released as Live at Last , and the follow-up studio album Predator in Disguise was released the following year, and the band pocketed into the new century. The compilation album, The Best of Praying Mantis , was released in 2004. Following further line-up changes, the new album, Sanctuary , was released in the spring of 2009 and has earned worldwide media recognition.

In 2013 the band announced they will release a new single in October 2013. The single officially introduced new members, John Cuijpers (vocals) and Hans in't Zandt (drums) to the band's fanbase after playing Colchester, Ipswich (with support from MGR Records band Kaine) and Cambridge Rock Festival with a new lineup. A new album called Legacy was released on August 21, 2015.

Maps Praying Mantis (band)

Discography

Studio album

Time Tells No Lies (Arista 1981) - UK No.Ãƒ, 16
Throw Shape (billed as Stratus ) (Steel Trax 1984)
Predator in Disguise (Pony Canyon 1991)
A Cry for the New World (Pony Canyon 1993)
To Ten Strength (Pony Canyon 1995)
Forever in Time (Pony Canyon 1998)
Places to Hide (Pony Canyon 2000)
Travel Happened (Pony Canyon 2003)
Sanctuary (Frontiers 2009)
Inheritance (2015 Boundary)
Gravity (Frontiers 2018)

Single

"Praying Mantis"/"High Roller" 7 "(GEM, 1980)
The Soundhouse Tapes Part 2 ("Stucked City"/"The Ripper"/"Johnny Cool") 12 "(Ripper Records, 1979)
"Deceived"/"Thirty Pieces of Silver"/"Flirting With Suicide"/"Panic on the Road" 2x7 "(Arista, 1981) - [UK # 69]
"All Day and All Night"/"Beads of Ebony" 7 "(Arista, 1981)
"Turn the Table"/"Tell Me the Nightmare's Wrong"/"Question about Time" 7 "EP (Jet, 1982)
"Only Crying Kids"/"Who's Life Anyway Anyway?"/"A Moment in Life"/"Turn the Tables" CD EP (Canyon International, 1993)
Metalmorphosis CD EP (released alone, 2011)