Anglo-chilean thrashers, Criminal, have released a lyric video for “Animals To Gods”, a track from their new full-length, Fear Itself, due out March 11th worldwide via Metal Blade Records.

Comments Anton Reisenegger: "This song has been one of our favourites since we wrote it. It's got many different sections, yet it flows like a stream of lava. The lyrics are about the human species reaching the pinnacle of evolution and what a one-way street that means in terms of the environment and other species. It's based on the book Sapiens: A Brief History Of Mankind by Yuval Noah Harari, and I do realize it is unusual to base a song on a scientific book, but it was a real eye-opener for me when I read it, and I can only recommend it to anyone remotely concerned about the future of life on our planet. Despite the heavy subject matter, I don't think the lyrics are too heady or pretentious, but rather menacing and apocalyptic.

“Costin (Chioreanu), the artist also responsible for the album cover] did an absolutely fantastic job in translating the words and vibe of the song into images. He did it in record time as well, and we didn't ask him to change anything when we first saw it, as we thought it was absolutely perfect."

Pre-order bundles for the new album are available at Metal Blade.

Regarding the new album, Criminal recently 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."

Recorded at Criminal bassist Danny Biggin's HVR Studios in Suffolk, UK, 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.

Tracklisting:

“Intro”
“Down Driven”
“False Flag Attack”
“Shock Doctrine”
“The Needle And Knife”
“Scream Of Consciousness”
“Summoning The Apocalypse”
“The One Who Speaks At Night”
“Animals To Gods”
“Deep In The Rot”
“Wasted Youth”
“Carne Molida”

“Shock Doctrine”:

“Down Driven”:

Making of video:

Lineup:

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