Released By : Self Released – Out Now
Genre: Thrashy Death Metal
Links: http://www.myspace.com/criminalside
Lineup:
Lorenzo Sighinolfi – Vocals
Luca Paolini – Guitars
Enrico Berti – Guitars
Arash Saboori – Bass
Lorenzo Truppi – Drums
Tracklist:
1. Falling Sand
2. Slaves Of Time
3. Beholding The Sun
4. Southern Battle Cries
5. Legion Of Whirlwind
6. Failure Of God
CRIMINAL SIDE was initially created in 2004 by two guitarist friends Lorenzo Sighinolfi and Enrico Berti as a result of their shared love of SLAYER and METALLICA. After spending the next few years forming a stable line-up and writing material, 2007 saw the release of their first E.P ABYSS OF HUMANITY. Off the coat-tails of the mini-album CRIMINAL SIDE began playing a few more gigs around their homeland of Italy and now, after another couple of line-up changes have returned with E.P number two titled SLAVES OF TIME.
The band have described themselves as thrash metal, but to my ears it’s a little closer to a death metal style with thrashy riffs. The guitars are certainly thrash, but the vocals for the most part are akin to nineties death metal, with a few parts here and there sung in a more thrash metal voice. This is not a bad thing though, as they have managed to incorporate enough of both elements to please either camp.
FALLING SAND is a quick little acoustic based intro that eventually leads into the proper album opener SLAVES OF TIME, which is a very in-your-face thrashy death song with a great lyric. I really enjoyed the riffing in BEHOLDING THE SUN, which is possibly the most straightforward thrash song on the disc. SOUTHERN BATTLE CRIES has a bit of a slower groove to it in places and once again features a weel written and very interesting lyric. LEGION OF WHIRLWIND and FAILURE OF GOD finish the album in a similar fashion to make a pretty concise idea of what CRIMINAL SIDE are all about.
SLAVES OF TIME shows a young band that are on the right path and heading upwards. There are a lot of bands playing a similar brand of music at the moment that might make things a little difficult, but CRIMINAL SIDE are one of the better unsigned thrash/death bands I’ve heard this year and it would be interesting to see what these guys could do with a bigger production budget and a full album of songs. A band to watch out for.
Written By ZeeZee
Rating: 7/10
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