Gitarist verlaat Criminal

De band Criminal ziet gitarist en oprichter Rodrigo Contreras vertrekken. Band leider Anton Reisenegger (gitaar, vocalen) laat weten:

"As some of you may be aware, Rod decided to go back to Chile a few months ago, leaving the future of the band uncertain. After much deliberation, we have now decided to replace him in order to be able to carry on as a band. This is not something we wanted to happen, but we have to be realistic, and being thousands of kilometers apart wouldn't have allowed us to work as a functioning band. This is not a studio project, our music is meant to be played live, and we have many plans for the future which require the four of us to be geographically close. Rod and I started this band almost 20 years ago and he wrote some of the band's best and most characteristic material, which made this situation extremely difficult for me personally. I feel, however, that we've done the right thing, as everything was talked through with all people involved, and Rod's departure happened in the most open, civilized terms possible. We hope that you, the fans, will understand this decision. It's not an easy step for us to take, and it wasn't a rushed decision, but if the only other choice is to stop playing as Criminal, we'd rather take the flak and soldier on."

De band heeft ook al een vervanger gevonden, namelijk Olmo Cascallar van de band Gamora. Criminal gaat in maart de studio in voor de opnames van hun zevende album.