Originally released in 1997, Dead Soul is finally coming to the North American shores thanks to distribution by Metal Blade. Discovering that the band hailed from Santiago, Chile, I immediately made the connection with a band which existed in that area about 10 years ago, Pentagram. Well, call me your psychic friend, because guitarist/vocalist Anton Reisenegger is none other than the driving force behind that seminal death metal band. Part of what made Pentagram so killer was their guitar sound, and some of that is indeed carried over into Criminal. Actually the band's second release, Dead Soul is still very much a metal album, although they hold more in common with the Bay Area sound (Machine Head, Skinlab) than any past affiliations. With production courtesy of Vincent Wojno, you can be assured that this is a full frontal attack on the senses, with no note left untouched. The sound kinda makes me think of a beefy Helmet at times, but there's absolutely no mistaking the riffs penned by Senor Reisenegger, which are the high points of the album for me. I guess you've got a pretty clear idea of the guitar sound now, so overlay some truly raspy vocalizations which are powerful yet enunciated, set over a solid if not a tad unoriginal rhythm base and the basic mold is set. The songwriting really is dichotomous, which works well at times, but becomes a little too derivative of the aforementioned influences (or are they an influence?). Add this to the fact that Wojno felt that each track should be mixed differently (hence a completely different sound on each song) and you've got an interesting album at hand. Worth it just to hear some of those awesome riffs taken to the nineties. Look for a new album from these guys soon.