June 9th, 2024 - Riled Up & Defiant

 

Hello rockers, rollers, and craft brew fans!!  Happy Sunday!  The Meista here today pairing a tasty a Riled Up Red from the fine folks at Proper Brewing Company and "Defiance", the wonderful new album by a favorite of mine, NWOBHM legends Praying Mantis!  Hells yeah!!

Album Info:

• Artist: Praying Mantis
• Title: "Defiance"
• Recorded: 2023 through 2024
• Release date: April 19th, 2024 (studio album by Praying Mantis)
• Record company: Frontiers Music
• Production: Andy Burgess, Tino Troy, and Pete Newdeck
• Album cover art: Stan-W D (artwork and design)
• Personnel: Andy Burgess (guitars, keyboards, and backing vocals), John "Jaycee" Cuijpers (lead and backing vocals), Hans in’t Zandt (drums and percussion), Chris Troy (bass, keyboards, and lead and backing vocals), Tino Troy (guitars, keyboards, and backing vocals)
• Additional musician: Pete Newdeck (backing vocals)
• Musical style: Hard rock, heavy metal
• Sound: A wonderfully rich and intricately textured album, at times it is soft and warm, and at times angry, aggressive, and decisive.  There are elements of metal, progressive rock, and AOR all tightly and masterfully woven into a fantastically engrossing and heavy tapestry chalk full of soaring vocals and guitars, and powerful rhythms!
• Major themes: Good vs. evil, life, love, power, fear, survival, hope, etc.
• Tracks:

1. "From The Start"
2. "Defiance"
3. "Feelin' Lucky"
4. "I Surrender" (Rainbow cover)
5. "Forever In My Heart"
6. "Never Can Say Goodbye"
7. "One Heart"
8. "Give It Up"
9. "Nightswim"
10. "Standing Tall"
11. "Let's See"
12. 
    

Brew Info:

• Brewery: Proper Brewing Company (Salt Lake City, Utah)
• Website: http://www.properbrewingco.com/ 
• Brew: Riled Up Red 
• Style: Red Ale / Amber Ale
• Serving: 16 ounce can
• ABV: 5.0%
• IBUs: 20
• Ingredients: Proximity Based malt, Red malt, Chocolate malt, Galena malt, and Cascade hops
• Pour: The Riled Up Red pours a fairly clear, deep mahogany color with a 1-finger, off-white, creamy head with sudsy, soapy lacing.
• Nose: The nose is very malty, grainy, and slightly fruity.  There are aromas of doughy bread, light grassy hops, cracked wheat, light apple, sweet caramel/toffee, and light honey.
• Taste: The taste is malty, grainy, and slightly sweet.  There are notes of crackery and sweet biscuits, bready malts, light apple or pear, and sweet toffee.
• Mouthfeel: Medium-bodied with moderate carbonation, the mouthfeel of the Riled Up Red is smooth, yet crisp with a fairly clean, dry finish.

Overall pairing: The Proper Riled Up Red is a brew... the perfect mate to the beautifully crafted brilliance that is Praying Mantis's "Defiance"!  The sweeter flavors go great with the soaring guitars, Jaycee's wonderful vocals, and the lyrics and themes, while the heavy-duty malt backbone goes great with the more aggressive elements of the album.

And if you haven't done so already, check out my interviews with Praying Mantis vocalist John "Jaycee" Cuijpers (https://youtu.be/kV9hG_Pdes8) and guitarist Tino Troy (https://youtu.be/sf7ZBkI3foI) from a while back!

Cheers!!  Rock on!!