I have been a fan of this band for a number of years; some of the members (Anton Reisenegger - Rhythm Guitar & Vocals) were originally part of the legendary band Pentagram from Chile. Now partially located in Chile and Colchester in the UK with successful tour slots with some major hard hitters behind them, it just seems a shame that Criminal have not made a bigger impact on the scene. Criminal has more of the death/thrash metal genre in general (or “Extreme Thrash” I guess). Their last album in 2005 ‘Sicario’ blew me away, upon my first listen; this new one is no different but it gets much more down and dirty and more in your face.
‘Bastardom’ and ‘Sons of Cain’ has a latter day Venom feel to the track, both musically and vocally. But in general to the new listener you could take references to One Man Army and the Undead Quartet from the death metal spectrum followed by aggressive tinges of thrash, much like the modern brutality of Kreator. Zak O’Neil on drums batters the hell out of the skins; I guess this was forged with his previous bands experience (Extreme Noise Terror and Failed Humanity). ‘21st Century Paranoia’ stirs the senses and gets the balance just right whilst the riff wielding continues with ‘Crime and Punishment’. Track after track there is not much dissimilar material to distinguish them from some other bands, however, there is something here that gives you a buzz; only a few bands manage to do this for me, but Criminal pull this off perfectly. The production is handled perfectly, on any stereo system this sounds good, mixed to perfection allowing the glorious rasps and riffs to come flooding out.
Each track flows effortlessly, and whilst there is nothing that really grabs you to take particular note of, as I have said before, it’s feels just like taking your first pint on a hot day when your listening to this album. There is clear maturity in Criminal now, each track is relentless and there is not a weak track on the album.
This CD tears you a new arsehole to put it bluntly, it’s refreshing, precise and is a definite one to purchase. Now lets hope they do some live dates soon. This is the kind of wake up call you really do need.
http://www.myspace.com/criminal
http://www.massacre-records.com
