Interloper did not muck around in 2021.
After kicking the year off with the ripping EP A Revenant Legacy, they came charging straight back with their debut full length Search Party, and when I caught up with Andrew Virrueta, you could hear straight away that this was a band determined to make every bit of momentum count. He told me they used that strange stretch of downtime to keep writing, keep refining, and keep pushing forward rather than sitting still, and that drive runs right through the album.
What hits me most about Search Party is that it does not feel like a band testing the waters. It feels like a band arriving with intent. There is ambition all over it, but it never disappears up its own arse. It is progressive, detailed, emotional, heavy, and packed with enough melody and technical bite to keep you coming back for more. The more time I spent with the album, the more little moments started jumping out at me. Riffs, textures, vocal lines, shifts in mood, it is the kind of record that opens up the deeper you get into it.
Talking to Andrew, one of the things that stood out was how natural the songwriting sounded, even with all the complexity going on. He spoke about ideas starting from instinct, grabbing a guitar, catching that spark when it appears, then following it until the whole thing is fleshed out. Sometimes songs came from him, sometimes from Miles, sometimes from writing together with other members, but the key thing was that it stayed organic. You can hear that in Search Party. For all its precision, it still feels alive.
A huge part of why this album lands so strongly is Andrew’s performance across both guitar and vocals. Interloper already had plenty happening musically, but stepping into a bigger vocal role while handling those guitar parts added a whole other degree of difficulty. Andrew was upfront about that too, talking about how singing and screaming demand very different placements, and then throwing guitar into the mix on top of that makes it brutal. He also admitted that some of those parts were never originally written with the idea of him having to sing and play them at the same time, which makes what he pulls off here even more impressive.
That challenge helped shape Search Party into a real statement record. The clean vocals bring lift and emotion, the harsher moments hit with force, and the balance between the two gives the album a huge part of its character. There is a lot of range here, but it never feels forced. It feels like Interloper finding the shape of who they are.
Another part of the chat I really liked was hearing Andrew speak about working with his brother on the recording side of things. You could tell that relationship means a lot to him. He described him as his musical soulmate, somebody he grew up writing and learning with, and one of the few people whose opinion he truly trusts. That kind of connection matters in the studio, especially with music this layered. It is not just about having somebody who knows how to produce, it is about having somebody who understands what you are trying to bring to life and knows when to push the songs further.
That same sense of belief came through when we talked about Nuclear Blast getting behind the band. In a scene full of killer acts all fighting for space, that sort of platform can make a real difference. Andrew called it encouraging, and you could hear that it lit a fire under him. Not in a comfortable way either, more in that way where it makes you want to push harder, write better, and make sure you back it up. Search Party absolutely does that.
And yeah, we also had to talk about the Duran Duran cover.
Interloper taking on “Rio” could have been a novelty in lesser hands, but it works because it clearly came from a real place. Andrew told me it was basically a mutual decision because the song had become a party anthem for the band, one tied to good times, drinks, memories, and all those moments that bring people closer together. That is what gives their version its spark. It is not there for gimmick value. It is there because they genuinely love the bloody song, and honestly, that made me love it even more.
One of the other things that came through strongly in this interview was just how ready they were to get this material onto stages. Like every band at that time, they were stuck in that limbo of not knowing exactly when live shows would fully return, but Andrew’s excitement about eventually touring these songs was obvious. We also got onto something I will always bang on about, supporting bands properly. Not just streaming them and moving on, but actually buying the album, grabbing merch, and putting money where it matters. That part of the conversation still holds up now. If you love a band, support the band. It is that simple.
Search Party felt like a big step then, and it still does looking back now. This was not just Interloper putting out a debut album. This was a band laying down a marker. There is hunger in it. There is craft in it. There is a genuine sense of identity taking shape in real time.
If you are diving back into this one from the vault, or discovering it for the first time through the interview, Search Party is absolutely worth your time. It is a record built by a band who had something to prove and the songs to prove it with.
“SEARCH PARTY” out June 11th via Nuclear Blast Records! Order the album: http://www.nuclearblast.com/interlope…
Follow INTERLOPER Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InterloperOf… Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/interlopero… Twitter: https://twitter.com/InterloperBand_ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCftc…
