Praying Mantis: Metalmorphosis

Classic revisited – and it works.

By Malcolm Dome
( Classic Rock )
published

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Usually when a band decide to plunder their back catalogue and re-record some of their best moments, the result is a disappointment.

So often they don’t take account of the serendipity factor that makes these classics in the first place. But Mantis have avoided the trap.

Metalmorphosis sees them reimagining five songs from their NWOBHM heyday, and each one benefits.

While it might be hard to believe that the band could outdo the originals, when you listen to the way in which they tackle Captured City or Lovers To The Grave and have given them a new sparkle, you’ll see that Mantis have shown that it’s possible to do this sort of thing with style.

Malcolm Dome
Malcolm Dome

Malcolm Dome had an illustrious and celebrated career which stretched back to working for Record Mirror magazine in the late 70s and Metal Fury in the early 80s before joining Kerrang! at its launch in 1981. His first book, Encyclopedia Metallica, published in 1981, may have been the inspiration for the name of a certain band formed that same year. Dome is also credited with inventing the term "thrash metal" while writing about the Anthrax song Metal Thrashing Mad in 1984. With the launch of Classic Rock magazine in 1998 he became involved with that title, sister magazine Metal Hammer, and was a contributor to Prog magazine since its inception in 2009. He died in 2021.