Criminal Signs to Massacre Records

Anglo-Chilean thrash masters CRIMINAL has announced their signing of a new recording deal with Germany's Massacre Records. The band will enter the studio in September to record its sixth studio album for an early 2009 release. The follow-up to 2005's “Sicario” will be released in a limited edition package including a bonus DVD.

Vocalist/guitarist Anton Reisenegger states: “It's great to be on a label like Massacre, that has carved its niche in today's overcrowded market through hard work and dedication. We are looking forward to a long and productive collaboration."

“I have nothing but good things to say about the staff at Metal Blade Europe,” the frontman comments on the band's former label, “but the company's priorities were clearly somewhere else, so it made no sense for us to continue working together. I honestly wish them all the
best for the future.”

Formed in the early 90s in Santiago de Chile by ex-Pentagram mastermind 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 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, but 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.