Angelus Apatrida – Clockwork

Although Angelus Apatrida live right across the border in Spain, I must confesses that I had never heard of them before receiving this record “Clockwork”, which is actually their third full-length album in a career that spans over ten years now.

Throughout 13 tracks, including a cover of Iron Maiden’s “Be Quick or Be Dead”, the Spanish quartet delivers a high-octane and tasty thrash-metal that sounds straight out of 90’s vault. I know that retro-obsessed thrashers have saturated the music scene in recent years, but trust me when I say that “Clockwork” is not a mundane imitation of classic thrash records, though their influences are immediately identifiable. And when it comes to influences, Exodus and Megadeth clearly stand on top of a list that also includes names like Anthrax, Overkill and Testament. Tracks like “Blast Off”, “Of Man and Tyrants” and “Clockwork” use familiar, Bay Area-type thrash-metal structures, featuring plenty of high-speed riffs and infectious guitar hooks. Then there’s the voice of guitarist Guillermo Izquierdo, which really sounds like a mixture of Baloff’s aggressive tone with Mustaine’s slightly nasal vocal harmonies.

Occasionally the band does lapses into predictable and tiresome thrash-metal formulas, using some generic riffs, but for the most part Angelus Apatrida demonstrate some pretty solid and dazzling songwriting skills. That said, “Clockwork” isn’t exactly going to revolutionize the thrash-metal subgenre, but it does represent one of better examples of how good thrash-metal sounds like when it’s done right. (7.4/10)

David Alexandre

Band info: www.angelusapatrida.com

Label info: www.centurymedia.com

For fans of: Exodus, Megadeth, Anthrax, Overkill, Testament