Praying Mantis have been around of course way back since the original New Wave of British Heavy Metal days.
Tagged as NWOBHM though they’ve always been more towards the melodic end of the line rather than the heavier end.
Their debut album from 1981 – Time Tells No Lies – remains a NWOBHM era classic. The band has floated around pretty much ever since centred around founders Chris and Tino Troy. Now in early 2022 we have their latest album – Katharsis.
So what to say about Katharis? Hmmmm. Well in my opinion it’s not great.
Vocalist Jaycee Cuijpers puts in a thunderous, powerful performance. He’s all over it. However the rest doesn’t match up to what Jaycee puts in.
Cry for the Nations is a pleasant enough opener which chugs along quite nicely and has a bit of oooomph about it and the melodies work well with some nifty guitar work.
Sadly after that – bar a late save which I’ll get to – what follows is generally generic, turgid, uninspired and samey-sounding AOR. Nothing to recommend it. In particular Sacrifice and Find Our Way Back Home are cringe worthy and almost unlistenable. Long Time Coming tries to be a bit more of a rock song without making it.
However – the final two songs are excellent. Don’t Call Us Now and The Devil Never Changes both high class well put together chugging melodic rockers with some crisp riffs chugging along and nicely measured soloing which fit well within the songs. Both very enjoyable cuts.
Have a listen to The Devil Never Changes and how good it is:
If only they’d written more like this and Don’t Call Us Now rather than Sacrifice and Find Our Way Back Home.
Sadly overall with Katharis, Praying Mantis get a bit of a thumbs down from me. Fails to hit the spot bar Cry for the Nations, Don’t Call Us Now and The Devil Never Changes.
Whilst I don’t like it overall, you might. Particularly if the more lightweight stuff is your bag.
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