After Pentagram disintegrated in part thanks to a very mediocre support from the Latin scene, Criminal rose from its ashes; not the same band, not the same sound or the same feeling to be completely honest, but the important thing is that Anton Reisenegger (Pentagram) never gave up on metal, even when the fans might have giving up on him; and that was our fault really because Pentagram was and could have become bigger than Pantera, bigger than Metallica, but we never help the Chileans out, so here we are talking about Criminal.

Without having heard Criminal before this album (I admit ignorance, but from now on I’ll be waiting for their next release) I have no comparison to what many call their best work in Victimized back in 1994; so I’ll just talk about this thrash/groove album.

Criminal is aggressive, straightforward and understandable, perhaps sometimes their riffs tend to be a little similar to what Sepultura did on their “Chaos A.D” and “Roots” era, and so for the ones (like me) that loved those albums then Criminal is going to rock your world (that statement sounds so gay!). There is a song thou that really exploits a little too much those Sepultura made famous riffs, and that’s “Walking Dead” this really doesn’t stop the song from been extremely catchy and memorable, the problem is that it sounds way to familiar. Nonetheless “The Root of All Evil” tries to bring virtuosity back on the table once the solos start to fly over your head, creating a more complex and a sort of thrash/Swedish mellow death mix that makes you realize that this is no Sepultura clone.

Sicario (which is a cool ass name by the way!) also explores the more fast, face melting thrash style of the old school in songs like “Shot in the Face” that brings a relentless drum attack that really gets you in the mood for some good mosh pit action.

Sicario is a great example of the talent in Anton Reisenegger (and off course the rest of the guys in the record!) and his desire to write and play thrash metal, metal with groove and anger as well as a nice social philosophy buried in every song a very common thing in musicians from the late 80’s, just take a moment to read the lyrics and you will understand.