Torture Tunes
A short drum fill leads into a majestic thrash storm. Angelus Apatrida attacking with another studio album: Hidden Evolution. The production is modern, the cover is inventive and Century Media Records is a giant label, but how about the music?
The First Track - “Immortal“ works as an amazing opener. The riffs are played razor sharp at enormous speed and catchy vocals to provide a perfect access to outstanding a thrash metal album. I really like to highlight the vocals of Guillermo Izquierdo. He does a great job, giving songs its epicness. “Tug of War“ and “First World of Terror“ are aggressive and melancholic at the same time.
Then there is the returning catchy refrains of “Serpents on Parade“ or “Speed of Light“ are classic Thrash hymns, composed to scream along at a live show. How dare you not to start a pit, when the “End Man“ is banging out of the loadspeaker? Angelus kicks ass through and through, whether there're grooving like in “I Owe You Nothing“ or shredding their solos technically and harmoniously.
The 8 minute title track – “Hidden Evolutions” contains an evocative intro and a clean guitar part. All lyrics are well-conceived and critical. It’s all very important stuff for an intense and emotional album.
You may dislike modern thrash metal, but it's a fact that this musical genre works and is resourceful. Straight classic metal parts are mixed with numerous experimental details to explore. I am excited to see if Apatrida can overtop this 9 points next time, but...never say never!
Exx Tom, HMS
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