CRIMINAL: New Song 'Shock Doctrine' Available For Streaming

Anglo-Chilean thrashers CRIMINAL will release their new full-length, "Fear Itself", on March 11 worldwide via Metal Blade Records. A track from the CD, "Shock Doctrine", can now be heard below.

Comments CRIMINAL vocalist/guitarist Anton Reisenegger: "I think this track encompasses everything that defines CRIMINAL: the groove, the speed, the melody and the aggression. The lyrics deal with the way politicians use certain events to instill fear in the population, be it a terrorist attack, an economic crisis, or just lately the refugee crisis, in order to be able to put new policies in place and tighten the grip on the very people they are supposed to be protecting."

Recorded at CRIMINAL bassist Danny Biggin's HVR Studios in Suffolk, U.K., with a "no-bullshit" approach to recording, the band purposely avoided the vices of modern metal production such as samples, quantizing and amp simulators. The striking artwork by renowned Romanian artist Costin Chioreanu (AT THE GATES, ARCH ENEMY, MAYHEM) perfectly represents the bleak, dystopian atmosphere of the lyrics, which denounce warmongering, misinformation, exploitation and other ills of modern society. A metal band with a hardcore attitude, CRIMINAL's longevity is a testament to their honesty and passion; they're in it for all the right reasons.

CRIMINAL commented: "Everyone who's heard the new album agrees that it is our most pissed-off sounding record to date. We didn't try to make it more brutal, but that's the way it came out. We just let the metal flow. I think having Sergio in the band has something to do with it, because, as a longtime fan of the band, he told us when certain things seemed unnecessary. In fact, all but one of the songs are under four minutes long. Straight to the point, quick and painful.

"In terms of style, we didn't really plan anything, we just wrote the riffs that came to our minds. So there's a bit of thrash, hardcore and death metal, but also some classic heavy metal. All the stuff that we love put through a blender. And the end result sounds like CRIMINAL. It's hard to define, but I think a long time ago we created our own sound, and every new album ends up sounding like that."

"Fear Itself" track listing:

01. Intro
02. Down Driven
03. False Flag Attack
04. Shock Doctrine
05. The Needle And Knife
06. Scream Of Consciousness
07. Summoning The Apocalypse
08. The One Who Speaks At Night
09. Animals To Gods
10. Deep In The Rot
11. Wasted Youth
12. Carne Molida

CRIMINAL lineup:

Anton Reisenegger - vocals/guitars
Sergio Klein - guitars
Dan Biggin - bass
Zac O'Neil - drums