UMUR
"Victimized" is the debut full-length studio album by then Santiago, Chile based thrash/groove metal act Criminal. The album was released through Inferno Records in 1994. Criminal were formed in 1991, and released a couple of well received demos in 1992, before being signed to record "Victimized".
Stylistically the music on "Victimized" is a groove laden type of thrash metal, not too far removed from what Sepultura did on "Chaos A.D. (1993)", although the material is generally a bit more aggressive and direct here. There´s a slight nod towards death metal here and there, but that´s only a secondary influence.
The material on the 34:35 minutes long release is generally well written and quite effective too, but it´s also a bit one-dimensional, and the album could have prospered from a more varied songwriting approach. The sound production is decent, but there´s something about it, which keeps me from calling it a high quality production. It doesn´t have an authentic organic sound. The musicianship is strong enough, and lead vocalist/guitarist Anton Reisenegger delivers a fierce and raw shouting vocal performance which suits the aggressive music well.
So "Victimized" is a good groove/thrash metal release in some departments, while it could have been better in others. I´d still say a 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved, and it´s certainly an album that´s recommendable if you need something with a nice aggressive groove (yet still rooted in old school thrash metal).