COMANIAC – Instruction for Destruction

Comaniac is a Swiss thrash metal horde and this 10-track effort of theirs is the second full-length by these dirty buggers so far. Truth be told, this is my first encounter with the band. I read somewhere that their debut album was somewhat well-received and worth looking into, but I did not check that out until I received this new record of theirs. Anyway, all of that is besides the point; let us focus on "Instruction for Destruction", shall we?

While the music is thrash metal through and through, Comaniac has opted for a more technical approach to the genre, which is to say that they have more in common with Forbidden than the early Sodom record, just to list an example and try to put things into perspective. "Instruction for Destruction" is neither dirty nor raw, but controlled and structured. Some good riffs and tasty guitar leads crop up from time to time, but there is very little on display here that we have not heard a million times before, so it lacks a sense of identity. The musicianship is good and the sound is punchy, but the tracks just seem a little too confined somehow and never really break into anything remotely wild, insane, or mind-blowing. It feels a tad too safe and predictable and there are no surprises to be found whatsoever. None of the tunes ever take off and leave me floored. I wish that I could tell you that "Instruction for Destruction" is a compelling listen, but sadly that is not the case. Another problem of mine regarding the album lies with the vocals. They simply do not cut it for me and leave a lot to be desired. Like I said, there are some cool riffs and melodies and so on present on the disc, but the vocals never really blend in with the music to create something that is wicked, convincing, and hard-hitting.

Despite some good ideas here and there, "Instruction for Destruction" pales compared to many other technical thrash metal albums out there and is a long way from being as memorable and interesting as I had hoped for. This is simply too bland an affair.

https://comaniac.bandcamp.com/album/instruction-for-destruction