CRIMINAL
Questions asked by Jon Wilde, added to Rock Realms 16th February 2009.
Criminal are a thrash/metalcore band made up of half Chilean and half British members. Their new album, White Hell is out at the end of February 2009
Lead singer Anton Reisenegger answers questions on behalf of the band. Read on...
Hi Anton, hope you are well?
Anton: Yeah man, just got back from the gym so I'm a bit knackered, but things are going well.
You are a half British/half Chilean group. How does that work logistically? Where are you based most of the time?
Anton: Well Rod and I are from Chile, where we formed the band, but we moved to the UK in 2001, so now we are half-British and half-Chilean as you say. I later moved to Germany and now I live in Spain, but the band is still pretty much based in the UK. With me being quite far away it's obviously impossible to rehearse every week, so we only rehearse when there's a concrete project, a recording session or a tour, but it's worked out OK so far, thanks to cheap airlines.
Does the South American connection influence your music? You don't seem to bother with the tribal rhythms often associated with S/A acts.
Anton: No, we don't care much for the tribal/folk stuff. It works for some bands, but not for us. On a subconscious level there is probably a connection, but I wouldn't be able to tell. There is a definite influence in the lyrics though, as I like to write about about my country and its history and problems, and we also include some songs in Spanish every now and then.
Your new album, White Hell is out soon. Is there a particular concept behind the songs?
Anton: No, not really, there are various topics on the album. There are some things that are always present in our lyrics, like religion, but it's far from being a concept album.
How did the recording go... and where was it recorded?
Anton: The recording was pretty relaxed, as we recorded it at our bassist Dan's home studio. Only the drums were recorded at our rehearsal space, all of the rest, the tracking and mixing, was done at Dan's. It took us around three weeks altogether, with the difference that this time we didn't have to work for three weeks straight, but there were breaks in between, which allowed us to come back with fresh ears and brains and retain the perspective of what was going on and what we wanted to achieve.
How do you feel the fans will see this album in comparison to your previous releases?
Anton: I think the album isn't a million miles removed from what we have always done, but there's a lot more harmonies, interesting guitar stuff, and maybe also more melody than before, so I hope our fans are going to be pleasantly surprised. At least the reactions so far have been nothing but great. I also think this album has got the best production we've had on any of our records, and that's something people are bound to notice too.
What can we expect from the DVD included on the European version of the release?
Anton: There's 10 songs from a show we played in Santiago, Chile in December 2007, that were filmed with multiple cameras and recorded on multitrack, so the picture and sound quality is pretty damn good. As a bonus we decided to include our gig supporting Megadeth in May 2008, which is only one camera, but a cool bonus nonetheless, and then there's a few songs filmed at a German festival and an EPK.
Your sound is brutal heavily yet still very melodic, we think best personified by 'Incubus' on the new album. Do you manage to retain the melodic edge when you play live, or do you just blow everyone's nuts off?
Anton: Well, I don't know, as I've never seen the band live, but I suppose some of the subtleties get lost in a live situation. Someone once described a Criminal live show to me as being punched in the face really hard, so maybe that answers your question.
Speaking of 'Incubus', there are some f*cking amazing chugging riffs going on in the mix. What guitars and other equipment do you use to get the really monumental sounds?
Anton: We used various guitars, a Gibson, a Jackson and a Dean, and did four rhythm tracks in total. The main thing is the pickups, the EMG 81s just destroy! For amps we used the Peavey 5150 setting on the Amplitube plugin. I know maybe I shouldn't even say this but I don't care, yeah, we used plugins and not real amps, but listen to it and tell me it doesn't sound like the real deal!
You've played with some pretty big names over the years. Who do you rate as the best live metal act? And, no, you can't say yourselves :)
Anton: Well, all bands go through fazes of greatness and not-so-greatness. I think that the band that impressed me most out of all the ones we've played with was Sepultura. We supported them on the Chaos A.D. Tour and they were just so goddamn intense it was frightening. Also at that time not many internationally successful bands had gone to Chile yet so the fans were also really going for it! As for the present, I don't really know, as I don't go out and see that many bands anymore. I was quite impressed with how heavy Chimaira sound live though.
Is being in a metal band work, pleasure or both?
Anton: Definitely both. And I don't even consider rehearsing or playing shows work, but doing press and promoting the band online and keeping on top of all the MySpaces and Facebooks and shit, that is really a lot of work. If you asked Zac our drummer he would probably tell you that setting up, breaking down and carrying around his drum kit is the most work!
Who were your influences and what inspired you to get into metal?
Anton: Well, I've been into metal for a long time now, so I'd have to say I started with the classic bands, Priest, Maiden, Sabbath, etc., but it wasn't until Slayer and Metallica surfaced that I seriously considered forming a band.
Is there anyone in the music industry you'd really love to work with?
Anton: Well, there's a few musicians that I really admire, and I actually got quite close to working with some of them, but in the end it didn't work out. As far as producers and engineers go, I'd have to say Colin Richardson and Andy Sneap.
Out of everyone you've toured with, who parties hardest?
Anton: Us! Seriously, when we first started out we toured South America quite a lot and we ended up noticing that we were always the guys who drank the most. Plus sometimes there were other illicit substances involved. We've mellowed out quite a bit over the years, but I haven't really come across any other band that partied as hard as we did back in the day.
What's the worst thing you've ever done when drunk?
Anton: I crashed a fucking car. A long time ago.
Do you live the rock 'n' roll dream?
Anton: Haha, only when I'm on tour. I have a pretty normal life when I'm home, I take my daughter to school and go pick her up every day. Not very rock'n'roll...
Anything else (apart from the new album) you want to plug?
Anton: Well yes, my old band Pentagram is reforming this year to play a few festivals in Europe, so everybody watch out for that!
What are you up to once you've finished being interrogated?
Anton: I'm gonna take a shower!
Thank you for your time, you are free to go...
Anton: Cheers for the interview.
Criminal's new album, “White Hell“ is out on February the 27th on Massacre Records. Don't forget to check out Anton's other band, Pentagram when they hit Europe later this year!
