Written: 23rd June 2024
One of the hardest working bands in death metal, 200 Stab Wounds have recently taken several steps up the ranks due to the reception of their first full length album, 2021’s Slave To the Scalpel and a string of blistering live performances, including a tour earlier this year with Cattle Decapitation. Now signed to Metal Blade Records, the band are about to unveil their new album Manual Manic Procedures.
Setting an ominous tone for what is to come, opening track Hands Of Eternity – the longest track on the album - begins with a minute of slow mysterious guitar arpeggios that haunt and beguile. Distant bass and disturbing synth effects add to the tension; then drums and crushing riffs pile on more pressure until ninety seconds in, all hell breaks loose. A ferocious combination of speed and groove lead us towards the opening lyrics. In your peril, you regress / Putrid insides, rot into your death / Beg and plead, you’re never free / The tons of blood / You free your soul. 200 Stab Wounds played this song during their tour with Cattle Decapitation (review here) and it was extremely well received by the crowd. There is a feeling that the band’s technique and approach to songwriting has taken a significant upward trajectory and this is reflected in the song structure as Hands Of Eternity ends with similar arpeggios to its introduction. As a statement of intent, it is a wonderful initiation to the album. “It is a good example of where we want to go musically,” says vocalist Steve Buhl. “The heavy riffs are there, but there's still a lot of good melody. It's not just crazy fucking blast beats and, riff, riff, riff. It's more structured, groovy and melodic, but still heavy. That's one of my favourites.”
Signifying the intentional variety that the band exhibit on the album, Gross Abuse is two minutes of hammering - but again groove laden - riffs that refuses to let the listener go once it attacks. Lyrically, it inhabits typical death metal territory. Switch blade slides into the skull / Brain seeps out onto the floor / Violent killing / I need gore. Steve Buhl adds, “It's a great song – it's heavy as fuck, just brutal – so we needed lyrics to match that.” Title track Manual Manic Procedures, which begins with approaching synths, steady percussion and some stomping bass from Ezra Cook, suddenly explodes. It continues in a similar lyrical vein to Gross Abuse, while stepping up the tempo, intensity and use of screaming guitar.
Release The Stench begins with thirty seconds of wonderful guitar interplay from Buhl and Raymond MacDonald as colossal riffs and a wailing solo intertwine bringing an uneasy feel to the introduction. 200 Stab Wounds have developed a high level of conviction in their music and even in a two and half minute track such as this, they feel free to experiment with dynamics, tempos and timbres within the same song. Perfectly positioned at the centre of the album, Led To The Chamber / Liquified is a sinister and spine-chilling instrumental. Once again, the band make excellent use of synths; there should be nothing to put fans off in this as they simply add to the portentous atmospheres of the album. Three minutes pass uncomfortably but irresistibly, like a horror film that you cannot look away from, as 200 Stab Wound further highlight the diverse range that the album presents.
The last four songs on the album begin with the sonic assault of Flesh From Within, a rapid, bile-spewing attack on the senses – particularly from Owen Pooley’s drums - that rampages from the speakers with murderous intent. Across the entirety of the album, Buhl’s guttural vocals sit perfectly within the mix, never threatening to be overwhelmed. Defiled Gestation – which contains alluring macabre but melodic guitar work - and Ride The Flatline sustain the momentum of Flesh From Within, with Ride The Flatline featuring Jami Morgan of Code Orange. Penned by Ezra Cook, it is inspired by a chemical spill in the Ohio River following a train derailment. “All the crazy chemicals caught fire,” Steve Buhl says. “The Ohio River goes into Lake Erie, which is where our water supply is. So the song comes from that really. But obviously, we put a little bit of animation into it, with someone getting run over by a train in the process.” Telling its story over three of the most vicious minutes on the album, the song becomes even more visceral with the contributions of Morgan. Three knives and a scalpel / Blood tissue and shrapnel / For every time I was doubted / Bloody derailment / Screams of the innocent / Denied, cast out / Bloody derailment / Screams of the innocent.
Manual Manic Procedures ends with Parricide, 200 Stab Wounds’ vitriolic assault on commercial greed, albeit done in their own inimitable fashion. Buhl says, “Parricide,’ is about someone going into a nursing home, and just blowing it up. The lyrics are about those type of corporations that don't really give a fuck about those people. It's all just a money grab.” Both musically and lyrically obdurate – complete with a short, spoken word section - Parricide combines the different elements that the band have displayed during the course of the album. As the last notes fade away and crackling static takes its place, it is difficult to believe that 200 Stab Wounds have crammed so much into just under thirty minutes.
With Manual Manic Procedures, 200 Stab Wounds have blended old-school death metal influences and modern sonic innovation to create a relentless auditory assault that remains uncompromising in its intensity, while being varied and far from one-dimensional. The album’s raw, unfiltered aggression is complemented by sophisticated but not overly clinical production, ensuring each track is both a nod to the genre’s heritage and a step forward. With their unwavering dedication and undeniable prowess, 200 Stab Wounds – who are destined for even great heights - have crafted a record that further carves out their distinct identity and in doing so have created one of the best death metal albums of the year. Miss it at your peril.
Manual Manic Procedures is released on 28th June 2024.