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In over a decade and a half of existence, CRIMINAL have released
consistently great albums with amazing musicianship, meaningful lyrics
and a genuine, raw aggression, always steering clear of metal's embarrassing
clichés, posing and pretentiousness.
Three years after the release of the critically-acclaimed "Sicario",
the band returns with their new studio album "White Hell", which
is sure to make jaws drop and necks snap everywhere. Drawing their inspiration
from classic 80s thrash to melodic death metal to the more groove oriented
sounds of the 90s, CRIMINAL manage to blend these influences seamlessly
into their own style of metal, which sounds just like you wish your favorite
band still did, and reminds you of what you love so much about the last
two decades of metal music.
Flawlessly produced by the relatively unknown Neak and co-produced by
the band, the album highlights the formidable drumming of Zac O'Neil and
the mindblowing guitar work of Rodrigo Contreras, which is easily on a
par with the likes of Jeff Loomis and Alex Skolnick. Add to this the rock-solid
foundation laid down by new addition Dan Biggin on bass and Anton Reisenegger
on rhythm guitar and the latter's gritty, hate-fueled vocals, spewing
forth lyrics either dealing with the evils of modern society or exorcising
personal demons, and you get an album of epic proportions.
Formed in the early 90s in Santiago de Chile by ex-Pentagram mastermind
Anton Reisenegger and guitar virtuoso Rodrigo Contreras, CRIMINAL were
combining elements of thrash, hardcore and death metal long before the
term "metalcore" was even thought of. The band enjoyed a meteoric
rise to the forefront of the thriving South American metal scene, including
five-digit album sales, shows with the likes of Kreator, Sepultura and
Slayer and a nomination for Best Rock Video at the MTV Latino Video Music
Awards. With their albums being released in South and North America, Europe
and Japan, the future looked bright for CRIMINAL, but the band was faced
with severe personal and business problems around the turn of the decade.
Reisenegger and Contreras then decided to relocate to the UK, regrouping
in a half-Chilean, half-British line-up. Since then, the band has played
on major European festivals such as Wacken and Summer Breeze, as well
as support shows with bands such as Chimaira, Six Feet Under, Brujeria
and Lamb of God.
CRIMINAL's latest studio offering, "Sicario", was hailed by
the press as one of the finest thrash metal releases of 2005 and was voted
into the Top Ten Albums of the Year by the readers of Terrorizer magazine.
At the same time, the band's status in their home country remains unbroken,
as evidenced by a four-page feature in the Chilean edition of Rolling
Stone magazine and a recent show supporting Megadeth in front of over
14,000 metalheads.
In the course of their career, CRIMINAL have shared the stage with bands
such as Kreator, Sepultura, Slayer, Anthrax, Bruce Dickinson, Motörhed,
Exodus, Napalm Death, Overkill, Testament, The Haunted, Candlemass, Six
Feet Under, Chimaira, Brujeria, Lamb of God, Megadeth, and many more.
To this date CRIMINAL have played in the following countries: Chile, Argentina,
Uruguay, Peru, Colombia, Venezuela, Mexico, USA, UK, Germany, Austria,
Belgium, the Netherlands and Portugal.
Freshly signed to Germany's Massacre Records, CRIMINAL will release their
new album "White Hell" on February 27th, 2009. The album will
be released in a limited edition featuring a bonus DVD. |
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