Angelus Apatrida is a Spanish thrash metal act. A longtime underground stalwart, they have gradually worked their way up to their current status as a mainstay of modern thrash and quite possibly Spain's most famous metal export in general.
Formed in Albacete in 2000 by Alberto Gayoso (vocals), Guillermo Izquierdo, David Alvarez (guitars), Victor Valera (bass), and Alberto Izquierdo (drums), the band initially played something closer to power metal, but Valera left within months, while the two Albertos left by the end of 2001, with Lost in the Realms of Orchinodaemon remaining as their sole legacy. Victor Valera returned to take over the drum spot in 2002, while Guillermo took over the vocal spot. They would then go on to record the Unknown Human Being demo, which marked a move towards a more Groove Metal-based style. They began playing out more, and their rising local and regional following led to a deal with Red Dragon Records. They would go on to record Evil Unleashed, their full-length debut, in the summer of 2004, but label issues led them to break the contract and rerecord it the following year. The album was eventually released in 2006 and managed to attract a great deal of attention throughout both Spain and Southern Europe in general, and the band was quickly hailed as an act to watch for. They successfully followed it up with Give 'em War in 2007, which brought them to international attention and led to a fairly heavy tour schedule across Europe.
Their big break occurred in late 2009, when they signed a deal with Century Media Records and did a set of regional dates with Arch-Enemy. Clockwork, their debut for the label, was released in 2010, and the band continued to tour throughout Europe for the next year before releasing The Call in 2012. A reissue/remaster of their first two albums followed in 2013, and from there on out, the band steadily continued its three-year album/tour cycle with little disruption.
Discography:
- Lost in the Realms of Orchinodaemon (2001) (demo)
- Unknown Human Being (2003) (demo)
- Evil Unleashed (2006, though it saw an unauthorized release in 2005)
- Give 'em War (2007)
- Clockwork (2010)
- The Call (2012)
- 3 Inches of Blood/Angelus Apatrida (2012) (split)
- Evil Unleashed/Give 'em War (2013) (remastered rerelease of first two full-lengths)
- Hidden Evolution (2015)
- Immersed/Serpents on Parade (2015) (split with Dew-Scented)
- Sharpen the Guillotine (2018) (single)
- Downfall of the Nation (2018) (single)
- Farewell (2018) (single)
- Cabaret de la Guillotine (2018)
- Martyrs of Chicago (2019) (single)
- Angelus Apatrida (2021)
The band contains examples of the following tropes:
- Beastly Bloodsports: "National Disgrace", a very unambiguous Take That! to bullfighting.
- Cover Version: "Domination", "Be Quick or Be Dead", "Hell Patrol", "Highway Star", "Johnny B. Goode", and "The Antichrist".
- Darker and Edgier: The self-titled is significantly heavier and has none of the power metal elements that had been featured in increasing prominence on their modern releases, focusing on a purely thrash-oriented sound.
- Domestic Abuse/The Dog Bites Back: "Killer Instinct".
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Their first demo was closer to power metal than anything, while Unknown Human Being and Evil Unleashed were groove-thrash. Even Give 'em War, while much closer to their established style, still had a decent amount of remaining groove elements.
- Heavy Meta: "Thrash Attack".
- Long Runner Lineup: A Type 2, as they have not had a single lineup change since Victor Valera rejoined the band in 2002.
- New Sound Album: Several:
- Unknown Human Being was a Genre Shift to groove-thrash.
- Give 'em War significantly played up the thrash elements.
- Clockwork completely eliminated the groove elements and established their modern thrash style with some power metal elements, creating the style that they have carried on uninterrupted since then.
- Ode to Intoxication: "Fresh Pleasure".
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Pop-Culture Isolation: They are quite popular throughout Europe and are a solidly mid-level headliner there, but they are niche at best in North America, and it took 22 years for them to finally play a show there. - Protest Song: Their main lyrical theme, especially circa Cabaret de la Guillotine.
- Rock Star Song: "Wanderers Forever", an ode to touring.
- Sociopathic Soldier: The protagonist of "First World of Terror", who puts on a front about fighting to preserve freedom, but knows better than to believe his own lies because he's well aware that he's just a Blood Knight asshole who likes having an excuse to shoot things.
- Sibling Team: The Izquierdo brothers (Guillermo and Jose).
- Step Up to the Microphone: After Alberto Gayoso left, they didn't bother to search for a new vocalist and just had Guillermo Izquierdo do double-duty.
- Thrash Metal: Easily the most famous thrash act to come from Spain, and one of the few acts that rode in on the retro-thrash wave who survived its fall with no ill effects. This is likely due to a combination of them never really being a retro act despite their association with the scene and their ties to the Thrash Unlimited message boards (thereby preventing them from being stuck with the "pizza thrash" epithet), as well as the band having a much better contract with their label than most of their peers.
