Angelus Apatrida - Aftermath

Angelus Apatrida – Aftermath
Release Date: 20th October 2023
Label: Century Media
Order/Stream
Genre: Thrash, Modern Metal,
FFO: Trivium, Havok, Prong, Crisix, Hatchet.
Review By: Mark Young

October, nights are drawing in, and the releases continue to come thick and fast. And so it goes with Angelus Apatrida, Spanish thrash exponents who drop Aftermath, their latest full-length release via Century Media. There are guest spots (names you will recognize) and two live tracks included, but for the sake of this review I’ll concentrate on the new material.

Scavenger hits with an up-tempo crashing drum muscular opening. Heads down with some nifty guitar and aggressive vocals, this is a welcome start. As a statement of intent, it’s pretty good, with a suitably energetic solo break that this kind of song needs. Cold goes for that sweet spot with that classic thrash phrasing. All down-picking, you can see them charging round the stage and then a tonal shift with a shout-a-long section. Luckily that doesn’t last too long before we get back on with the thrash, but you know they are going to do that again, and it jars with the overall attack they have shown. There is a storming final section that goes hard, which goes some way to balance the singing section. I’m not against it, but it just doesn’t sit well here.

Snob, on the other hand, is weapons grade material. Guest vocalist Jamey Jasta and Guillermo Izquierado teaming up to spit venom against one of those just excellent riff patterns. This is just top class, taking the best from the genre and wrapping it up in a ball of aggression. Double solo breaks because a song of this type has to have those solo’s otherwise what is the point. After this high watermark, Fire Eyes comes in but seems to be retreading in the steps of Scavenger. There is nothing wrong with it, it has those cheeky little melodic breaks and that constant riffing, which is always welcome, but it pales against Snob.

And then Rats, and everything is alright with the world, combining Megadeth on speed and Pantera (circa Cowboys from Hell) this is just ace. Now it has a singing part, but because of how it’s framed within the song it works. This is just royal, that full pelt rhythm supporting the solo breaks, and it’s joyful. To Whom It May Concern on the other hand falls into that trap of being too long and slap bang in the middle of the album. Taking in a touch of Iron Maiden but with some incendiary fret burns which is great, but again seems to be at odds somehow, mainly due to that sung middle section. Despite its speed, the slow sections really drag the energy level down from the high of Rats.

Gernika sets us right once more, bringing that furious attack to bear once more. This I like, and yes even the singing section because it fits the song. I Am Hatred takes up the mantle and we are off. A proper stomper, all controlled anger, with everyone on point here. Quality.

What Kills Us all (ft Sho-Hai) is just mental. It’s the little touches such as the cymbal taps that make these so immediate that you cannot avoid nodding your head. The energy is well and truly back for the final song, featuring one Todd La Torre of Queensrÿche. And of course, they go for a slow-riff heavy but light in approach (you will know what I mean when you hear it). All soaring vocals and despite some fast guitar in the final act, it brings us to a bit of a flat end. Reading this back, it makes me more disappointed than the first time I heard it as they could have finished on What Kills… and that would have been a fitting end.

On the whole, it’s a slightly unbalanced album. The songs that work really hit hard, fully formed thrash specials that tick all the boxes without sounding as though they are a rehash of the classics. Snob, I Am Hatred for example are just excellent, really impressive and show that they can hang with the best the genre has to offer. Where we fall down is those songs where the inclusion of cleans (admittedly not that clean) seem to be shoehorned in, and they just don’t fit. Personal opinion being a wonderful thing is that you don’t have to agree with me and by reading this you might be thinking ‘I’m going to check this out anyway’ which you should because it has some top-class metal on here. Just not all the way through.