Gareth checks out the brand new upcoming release from Spains finest thrashers…

Angelus Apatrida have been Spain’s premier thrash band for a number of years now, having established themselves in the early 2000’s, after they produced two banging albums in ‘06 and ’07 with the striking ‘Evil Unleashed’ and the even more impressive ‘Give ‘Em War’, both were high energy, albeit fairly generic, thrash albums, very reminiscent of the late 80’s Bay Area, especially Testament, Exodus and Death Angel, which obviously is no bad thing at all, and guitarist Guillermo Izquierdo’s unique vocal tones, did help them stand out from the crowd somewhat. Albums three & four, ‘Clockwork’ and ‘The Call’ saw the band add more of their own character into the recordings, but it wasn’t until 2015’s ‘Hidden Evolution’, which is when I first caught up with them, that they really honed their songwriting chops, with each track having its own charm, with plenty of brutal riffage yet also with hooks aplenty and some great choruses. ‘Cabaret de la Guillotine’ in 2018 and 2021’s self-titled reinforced that quality, both adding a bit more maturity, depth, and more of their own personality into the mix, so when the announcement was made that a new album ‘Aftermath’ was on its way, my excitement understandably grew.

So, what does album number eight have in store for us? Well, the opening salvo of ‘Scavenger’ and ‘Cold’ prove that the boys from Castile-La Mancha in Albacete, have no intention of slowing down, both songs have razor sharp riffing and lightning-fast percussive hits, and ‘Cold’ has a chorus as catchy as anything the band has done previously. One thing that I noticed early on, was the number of ‘guest’ appearances on the album, four in total and the first of these appears on third track ‘Snob’, featuring Hatebreed’s main man Jamey Jasta duetting on vocals. Now, to say ‘Snob’ derails the album would be a bit strong, but it does knock it slightly off kilter, it just seems a bit out of place with silly, almost immature lyrics and an aggressive ‘shouty’ hardcore feel that just feels a bit forced, it’s not terrible by any means but it is the weakest song on the album. No such problem with ‘Fire Eyes’, which builds nicely with ever more intensity, and is topped off with a hugely impressive solo from Spanish guitarist Pablo Garcia (Warcry). ‘Rats’ ramps up the speed, the drums a blur with the guitars almost struggling to keep up, while the verse throttles back the tempo and adds a bit of groove into the mix, while the bridge is a fist pumping call to arms. There’s no doubt the main course for the album is the eight-and-a-half-minute epic ‘To Whom it May Concern’, lyrically this is the most mature the band has ever been with a heart wrenching open letter of desperation, and the music matches this ambition, starting with clean harmonics and acoustic guitars, before building in intensity and heaviness, the chorus is simply huge and the solo, after the emotional bridge, is an immense melodic beast, while the pay off in the last thrashed out final minute is well worth the investment. ‘Gernika’ has some very tasty mid paced riffage, and another catchy vocal arrangement, while ‘I am Hatred’ is designed for one thing, and one thing only, and that is to whip the pit into a frothing frenzy. The album ends with two more guest vocal appearances, firstly Spanish rapper SHO-HAI, a big fan of Angelus Apatrida, features on ‘What Kills Us All’ with a spoken rap in the middle section, which seems innovative at first, but on repeated listens soon becomes a bit gimmicky, and detracts from what is otherwise a tremendous track. ‘Vultures and Butterflies’ on the other hand, featuring Todd La Torre from Queensrÿche, fairs much better and the juxtaposition between epic (Todd)and gruff (Guillermo) flows much better, and the grand scale of the arrangement, which embraces a more classic metal style alongside the thrash, and this newer, broader, bold melodic approach makes this an excellent closing track, and perhaps gives a glimpse of future releases.

The band, who impressively have had no line-up changes in the whole of their ‘official release’ period, and is completed by guitarist David G. Álvarez, bassist José J. Izquierdo and drummer Victor Valera, once again attend to the production duties themselves, with old hands Juanan López handling the recording, and Zeuss performing the mixing and mastering, the sound once more is fantastic; powerful and full of energy, the guitars have a real crunch and bite to them, while the drums are punchy and clear, and locked together with the stunning bass, to form as formidable a rhythm section as you’ll find anywhere, and although they’ve always sounded great, this has more of a homogenous feel compared to previous releases. The cover art is also stunning, another fantastic piece from long-time collaborator Gyula Havancsák.

Overall, this is a fantastic album, and I think is a real step-up in quality from the self-titled, and as discussed earlier, these guys don’t have any weak albums, but I personally think it could have been even better and feel like some of the guest appearances actually hamper the album flow and detract from the very strong set of songs on offer. Saying that I am being extremely critical, and it’s only my personal opinion, others will disagree whole-heartly with me, and I can honestly say I enjoyed this album immensely, and it’s one I will be returning to again and again. If you love thrash and have yet to check Angelus Apatrida out, then this is a great place to start!

Angelus Apatrida – Aftermath is out tomorrow the 20th October via Century Media