Despite what their 1980s influenced, Bay Area sound might lead you to believe, Angelus Apatrida are a modern Thrash band hailing from Spain. Recorded at their home studio in Albacete, Cabaret De La Guillotine (Century Media) is their sixth album, their debut seeing the light of day twelve years ago, and is a continuation of their sociopolitical charged Thrash awash with tasty riffs and plenty of solos.

Lead singer and guitarist Guillermo Izquierdo’s inspiration for the album was the “dictatorship injustice, fascism, corruption” he sees in his native Spain, with the regressive ‘gag law’ looming large. This disillusionment and anger has been channeled into the music very well, creating tight fifty-plus minutes of intricately woven yet meaty Thrash Metal – helped in no small part by the crisp production skills of Anathema member Daniel Cardoso.

This is abundantly clear right from the off with opener ‘Sharpen the Guillotine’, while it may start slow it very quickly accelerates into a furious gallop. This rage-fuelled brutality is present throughout, with ‘Downfall of The Nation’ home to a venomous, metallic chugging rhythm. The fire and ferocity of such numbers is matched by ‘One Of Us’, a blink and you will miss it blast of punk-like energy.  

Some NWOBHM influence has been slipped in as well and to good effect. This is most apparent in ‘Betrayed’, a meaty metal number with the Maiden-esque guitar licks in the chorus adding a very pleasing sense of melody. This counter-posing of the brutal with the melodious is also used in ‘The Die is Cast’, a vicious, pummeling rhythm and shredding solos give away to slick guitar licks in the chorus.

Things slow down toward the end of the record, with the measured ‘Witching Hour’ a prog-tinged slice of dramatic thrash that recalls Rust in Peace era Megadeth. ‘Farewell’ is also of a similar ilk, a dramatic pseudo-ballad that would not sound out of place alongside Testament’s ‘The Ballad’ or ‘The Legacy’. Fast, slow and dramatic, all of this combines to make a great, well-rounded thrash album and one that is more balanced than their previous offering Hidden Evolution.

7.5/10

THOMAS THROWER