Mantis is a bass music duo that has seen a wide array of success over the past few years. The guys have had major label releases, festival performances as well as nation wide tours. Today they shocked their fans as they announced for the time being they are going to halt releasing music under the Mantis name for the foreseeable future.
In the sentimental post they explain that the current climate of bass music has made them getting any show bookings near impossible as most promoters looking for acts on their level are only focused on bringing in Riddim acts. This is without a doubt true at the current moment in America. Riddim, or the rhythmic side of hard dubstep has exploded in popularity. Acts like Subtronics, Monxx and Phiso are now sought after more than old school mid tier bass acts considering their reasonable booking rates and cult popularity.
Mantis later explained that their post was misinterpreted by many fans. They further explained that what they are doing is not killing the Mantis project, but instead putting it on pause. To continue to make music and live the guys decided to focus on releasing music more centered in what the current climate of bass is demanding. For this they are going to be using a new name. They expressed fully that when (or if) things change and the hype around the riddim sound dies down, they hope to pick back up where they left off with the Mantis name.
Is this a trend we will see more as 2018 persists? It seems that as new genres are gaining momentum artists are force to adjust their sound to stay relevant. This has been the case for some time though, Tiesto started to make a more accessible, pop friendly sound when trance's popularity fell off in the late 2000's. It appears Mantis has the same sentiment, but are choosing to preserve their name for future use.
