Formed in Santiago, Chile in late 1991 by Anton Reisenegger, former leader of Chilean cult death metal act Pentagram, CRIMINAL enjoyed a meteoric rise within the South American metal scene. The band secured support slots with such heavyweights as Kreator, Sepultura, Slayer, Exodus, Motörhead, and many more. The resulting momentum from heavy rotation of their videos on MTV Latino allowed CRIMINAL to tour most of South America, selling in excess of 20,000 copies of their first two records in Chile alone.