Angelus Apatrida – The Call

Spain is somewhat of an oddity when it comes to Metal. It’s neighboring countries all have a few big names when it comes to the international Metal scene, such as Moonspell from Portugal, Gojira,Gorod or Blut Aus Nord from France, and too many to name from somewhat nearby Germany and Italy.Yet, Spain hasn’t had quite a large international Metal/Hard Rock scene sans domestic heroes Mägo De Oz and the semi well known Haemorrhage. But Angelus Apatrida from Albacete in Spain are slowly breaking the mold. The quite recent (formed in 2000) Thrash quintet are slowly becoming more and more well known, and their consistency is worthy of notice.

Angelus Apatrida is essentially a mixture between the melodic and groovy parts of Evile and some of the Thrashier and vocal aspects of Kreator. The heavier bits you can clearly hear Mille Petrozza’s or Paul Baloff’s vocal influence on vocalist Guillermo “Polako” Izquierdo’s vocals. Meanwhile in the more melodic part, there’s a clear Megadeth like serpentine vocals. But what’s new since Angelus’ last album? What’s different in The Call from Clockwork? Well, quite a bit.

Right off the bat with You’re Next, you can notice the vocals and song structure have changed. Guillermo’s grew a less melodic more high pitched type of scream that in the beginning I found annoying, but it began to grow on me. Riff wise, Angelus Apatrida is the same beast as ever. Thrashing and fun, this is what a classic Thrash album should sound like. This carries over well into the next few songs. At The Gates of Hell is a more groovy melodic ride than You’re Next, but is wholly satisfying. Yet Violent Dawn brings things back up to speed, and the power the band maintains over the course of the song is impressive. It feels like the riffs and drums grab you from the very first drum roll of the song and don’t let go.

Next up, is a bit less of a heavy beast called “It’s Rising.” I found the song to be a bit pointless, and the whole package felt similar to Pantera’s Shattered. The melody in the song is nice, and it’s not horrible, but it will surely not be one of those songs that make their setlist in a few years. Yet, not to keep the quality down for too long, we have Blood On The Snow. Melodic yet neck breaking , this is a headbanger of a track. A bit slowed down in certain parts, the song doesn’t lose momentum throughout, and also contains one of the best solos of the whole album. On the same subject, the solos both by Guillermo “Polako” Izquierdo and David G. Álvarez are consistently a strong point on the whole album.

The quality stays high with Killer Instinct which has one of the catchiest choruses in recent memory, following fast and crushing riffs that leave very little space to breathe. The Hope Is Gone continues in the same vein as the last two tracks and keeps it fast and pounding. The BPM stays high and the riffs stay interesting. Don’t let the title similar to Slipknot fool you, it is a fast Thrashing mother fucker!

And what Thrash band would be complete without a song about beer? Fresh Pleasures speaks about the great joys of opening a new bottle of beer. I found the track superfluous and just dropping down the vibe of the album. It is wholly uninteresting. The speed drops down again for the track Still Corrupt. Still Corrupt ends up being a fun anthemic song , a track to sing along to at gigs. The chorus also has this riff that kicks in and out for all you Groove Metal fans out there.

Last but not least, another track that makes my point that every album today has a reason to necessitate a 7+ minutes track in the end. But can Angelus Apatrida prevail and make an epic track akin to Asphyx and Borknagar? Or fall short akin to Tsjuder ? Well, luckily, they managed to pull off something interesting. It is essentially a 7 minute Thrash track, with a break down into great solos around the 4:35 minutes mark and a few acoustic parts. And yet again, the sickeningly catchy parts don’t hurt the quality of the song.

So, what’s my final opinion? I think it’s an overall strong album, not an album of the year competitor, but definitely a fun and worthwhile listen. Good for any almost any Metalhead and catchier than AIDS, this album is safe yet fun. I’d recommend it to anyone.