Defiance

Defiance is the thirteenth Praying Mantis studio album, released by Frontiers Music on 19 April 2024. The band presented it as a fiftieth-anniversary record; announcing the title track as the first single on their own site, Chris Troy said it "sets the tone for what's to come on the album — a perfect blend of classic Praying Mantis with a contemporary twist". The line-up is the one that has held since 2013: Tino Troy on guitar and vocals, Chris Troy on bass and vocals, Andy Burgess on guitar and vocals, John 'Jaycee' Cuijpers singing and Hans in 't Zandt on drums. Eleven songs, about forty-seven minutes, built on the two things this band has not let go of since 1981 — twin lead guitars in harmony and a thick bed of backing vocals. Frontiers' own channel posted a music video for the title track on 21 February 2024 and a lyric video for "Standing Tall" on 20 March. Marquee Incorporated released the Japanese edition on the same day as the rest of the world, 19 April, as MICP-11858, adding an alternate version of "Defiance" as a Japan-only bonus for twelve tracks. That June the band took the record to Japan for the 50th Anniversary Farewell Japan Tour 2024 — Shibuya Club Quattro on the 5th and Umeda Club Quattro in Osaka on the 6th. By the band's own announcement, those two nights were arranged as their last performances in Japan.