ANGELUS APATRIDA

The world has taken a battering over the last few years, but ANGELUS APATRIDA are leading the fightback.

Spain’s greatest ever exponents of forward-thinking thrash metal began their campaign at the turn of the century and have been a consistent force for heavy good ever since. From their ferocious 2006 debut album Evil Unleashed and 2010’s widely acclaimed Clockwork (the band’s first for Century Media), to more recent triumphs like 2018’s Cabaret de la Guillotine, ANGELUS APATRIDA have become increasingly unstoppable. In 2023, they release Aftermath: a vicious and vital response to the chaos we see all around us.

Like everyone else, ANGELUS APATRIDA did have to negotiate the restrictions and frustrations of the Covid pandemic. With touring plans for 2020 cancelled, they simply switched their focus to the creative process. The result was Angelus Apatrida, a self-titled record that sought to redefine its creators’ era-blending sound, with renewed intensity and uproarious lyrical sensibilities that dug deep into the realities of the modern world. Climbing to the top of the official album charts in Spain at # 1 as well as marking the band’s first ever chart entries in Germany at # 49 and Switzerland at # 41 upon release in 2021, the album showcased a band at the peak of their powers. Understandably, ANGELUS APATRIDA were absolutely itching to get back on the road, which they eventually did with a vengeance.

“We started doing some shows trying to keep things going until the summer of 2021, and then at the end of the year we were able to do some important venues and festivals”, recalls guitarist/vocalist Guillermo Izquierdo. “We spent 2022 and 2023 touring, mostly in Europe and North America. We’ve played Hellfest, Graspop, Dynamo, Resurrection Fest, Rock Fest and Leyendas del Rock, and we did our first headlining tour in the US and Canada. In February 2023 we did the last four dates of the tour in Spain with four total sell outs!”.

Clearly one of the hardest-working bands in metal, ANGELUS APATRIDA were not content with simply returning to the live arena. Even as they toured, work on their next album began. Pre-production for Aftermath was finished in March 2023, and the band swiftly hit the studio in their hometown of Albacete, once again collaborating with trusted live and studio engineer Juanan López on the capturing of these new metal explosions. The finished tracks were then sent to the legendary Zeuss (Rob Zombie/Overkill/Hatebreed) at Planet-Z in Wilbraham, Massachusetts and polished to a devastating sheen. The results speak for themselves: Aftermath is titanium-plated modern thrash of the highest order.

Dom Lawson – Blabbermouth, Metall Hammer UK.