A Review of the Albums "Counterattack" & "Mental Decay" by Czech Thrash Metal Band Laid to Waste

“Counterattack” is the debut album from the band Laid to Waste from the Czech Republic released in 2015. This band is still quite new and the members are from the city of Plzen and the band was formed in 2014. Their albums are typically short, ranging from about 25 to 30 minutes in length and sometimes a little more than that. If this review is too short, then we will also review the band’s second studio album called Mental Decay but let’s see just what happens here. Note: after some thought, decision has been made to review both studio albums of Plzen’s thrash metal band Laid to Waste.

The title track called Counterattack brings to light the types of social evils that can be caused at least partially by politicians that are so corrupt that they only care about holding onto their seat. Is revolution and armed struggle against these forces really the answer? The album begins with dialogue from former US President George H.W. Bush as the song is just an instrumental that gets this album started. It sounds to me like this album starts off with the old school thrash metal and yes, there is a solo in this first song which if you don’t count the narration art in the beginning is basically an instrumental song. Oldschool Nostalgia lyrically tells us to forget about the disco as heavy metal is alive and well and it most certainly is as it is a genre that will only evolve with time. The style might as well be a more modern kind of Annihilator (think of the song Reaction on the Remains studio album). Lawless Vindication is a song that continues in the tradition of songs that advocate fighting for freedom even if it comes at a price. Oldschool Nostalgia musically to me sounds like older and newer Metallica. One example that comes to mind is the riffing found in the song “Motorbreath” in 1983. For some of us, thrash metal gives off that high vibe and energy that we need to wither start the day off in strong fashion or to finish the day strongly.

As for the album “Mental Decay” that one was released in May 2017 and the album’s cover shows a person that is strapped to a table in a small room with two other people standing on each side of the table. The album’s cover shows the photo of a small room in a mental institution perhaps. As for the music itself in this album, the first song called Reborn starts off about as beautifully as a song can as it has a great acoustic section with melody and this takes a page out of the playbook of various European heavy metal bands. The song is about the dangers of a nuclear war. Closing the doors of our homes will do little to protect ourselves from the threat of nuclear wars.

Reborn does not mean that the band’s members were somehow reborn in a musical sense but these guys can play pretty decent thrash metal and the vocalist has quite an impressive range. We will get to the title track of this album at the end of this review because there is a very interesting structure to that song. “The Breaking Wheel” is a fast song about the fact that life is too full of stress, duties, and responsibilities as the stress and pressure lead to fatigue, burnout and other health problems. We want to be able to take a breather and live in the moment but that is challenging to do so in many nations in the world. We wonder whether life is supposed to be lived just to fulfill a bunch of duties. “Bells of Return” has the sound of three bell chimes before the heavy metal section starts up. The Czech Republic is a nation that may not get enough exposure when it comes to the heavy metal genre much less when it comes to thrash metal.

Now as of this first writing, we will finish off this review with the song called Mental Decay. The song is about someone that has been taken to a mental institution that has been corrupted by greed. His body has been pumped full of sedatives. Which one of these two albums by the Czech Republic’s Laid to Waste is better? It is a tough call as both of these are pretty decent albums.