CRIMINAL Signs With MASSACRE RECORDS

Anglo-Chilean thrash masters CRIMINAL have inked a deal with Germany's Massacre Records. The band has just entered the studio to begin recording 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, 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 lineup. Since then, the band has played on major European festivals such as Wacken Open Air 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.

CRIMINAL is:

Anton Reisenegger – vocals, guitar
Rodrigo Contreras – lead guitar
Zac O'Neil – drums
Dan Biggin – bass

CRIMINAL recently uploaded a brand new EPK (Electronic Press Kit) to its YouTube channel. Directed by Roberto Fuentes, the video features live footage from the band's December 2007 performance at Teatro Novedades in Santiago de Chile, as well as an interview with frontman Anton Reisenegger. Watch the EPK below.