Review of the Album Return to the Wasteland by Swiss Thrash Metal Band Comaniac

Comaniac is a thrash metal band from another one of those smaller countries in Europe, this one being Switzerland. The days of Celtic Frost trying to dominate the scene are over and let's say hello to this newer band from Switzerland which has been active from 2010. The album begins with the song called 1, 2 Rage and this one starts out slowly before speeding up with a brief bass line in it. The song is about trying to escape from aspects of life that may be considered rage. The song also says that having the strength to escape from this situation is better than gold. The melody in this first song is an indicator of even better things to come. This modern thrash metal that I've been exposed to started with Denver Colorado's Havok but in the middle of this first song the melody and leads make a great combination!

About the Musical style of Return to the Wasteland

The lead guitar work reminds me kind of Germany's Tankard. However this is very modern thrash that works out very well just like Holland's Distillator. In spite of the album's title, you will hear thrash metal that is melodic and rather entertaining.

After that solid first song, Secret Seed is a song that kind of criticizes the church and established religion. The song's message is that you don't belong under the control and direction of anyone and it is time to break free from that kind of spell if we can call it that. And then wow! We are treated to a beautiful acoustic part in the song called Cut Throat. It may have caught you by surprise because most people don't expect this kind of soft part from a thrash metal band but Comaniac have tried to put themselves in elite category and they are part of growing thrash metal scene in Europe trying to diversify and be creative instead of only relying on speed that many bands in the 1980s and 1990s did. The modern thrash metal movement that is present in Europe is brilliant, creative, innovative and well done! There are plans for a review of this band's second studio album called Instruction for Destruction so stay tuned for that one as well.

Fist of Friends is a heavy song that speaks out against the ignorance of the human race in some respects. Humans have sinned from the beginning of the world's history and this has been the biggest flaw of human nature. Killing Tendency is a song that is about the fact that there has to be a fight to survive and the fact that there is a major sickness alive in the world. War has always been a constant in the history of the world as there has always been a fight for a control of the world's lands and resources. ...and There is No Job starts out soft before building up into a decent mid-tempo thrash metal song.

Solitude is a song that describes a scenario where someone is trapped in a cycle of pain and anxiety which is very hard to get out of. Comaniac's lyrics actually describe real life issues that many human beings face but they do it in such a way that it is difficult to get into despair and instead it is thrash metal that fans all over the world can appreciate. However, one con about Comaniac and many other thrash metal bands is that the lyrics tend to not differ that much and they focus on topics relating to civil strife, disorder, chaos, warfare and other topics. Flakhead is the last song in this album and it its pretty self-explanatory. People that flake out on you are not very genuine. The strongest songs in this debut album from Comaniac are 1, 2, Rage Secret Seed and Cut Throat.