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| CDcame out the 05 June 2009 - Frontiers Records |
 add the album's lyrics
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1. In Time
2. Threshold of Dream
3. Broken Chains
4. Playing God
5. Restless Heart
6. Turn The Tide
7. Touch The Rainbow
8. Cry In The Rain
9. So High
10. Highway
11. Sanctuary |
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| Review |
 17 / 20 |
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Praying Mantis are a proper old school
heavy metal band, formed back in 1979 in the UK. Their newest album
‘Sanctuary’ has come after a gap of 6 years since their last full
length ‘The journey goes on’, and they deliver an excellent, rocking
album full of soaring riffs, melodious solos and memorable choruses.
Praying Mantis come from the same school as Maiden, Jaguar and the
like, classic rock riffing that informs most modern power metal ballads
(which this bares some resemblance to in style occasionally, especially
the theatrical ‘So High’). There are also a number of AOR moments,
tracks like ‘Turn the Tide’ bring the likes of Journey to mind. In fact
the band have never reached such levels of adoration as Iron Maiden or
Saxon; perhaps this is down to their more melodic, hard rock sound than
their metal roots. New vocalist Mike Freeland has an impressive range,
from more aggressive vocals in speedy opener ‘In Time’ to more power
metal melodies and grand operatic sweep.
However, it’s not all balladry and soppy moments. Praying Mantis
still have a metal streak in them, clearly evident in faster tracks
like the aforementioned ‘In Time’ and the galloping ‘Touch the
Rainbow’. The latter in particular is punctuated by impressive soloing
and catchy melodies. It is a shame that Praying Mantis never reached
the heights of Priest, Maiden or Saxon; they definitely have the songs
to be stadium rockers extraordinaire; ‘Threshold of a Dream’ would be
perfect sailing over the heads of thousands of people at Wacken etc.
Apart from some of the softer tracks, which are good but not
generally my cup of tea, ‘Sanctuary’ is a pretty good album. It’s not
overly original but since these guys are hitting 30 years in the
business in 2009, we’ll let that slide. Maiden and Saxon fans should
definitely look this album up.
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