Review 200 STAB WOUNDS “Manual Manic Procedures”

A stunning new album has arrived from Cleveland, Ohio. 200 Stab Wounds are releasing their second full-length, ‘Manual Manic Procedures’, and what the four-piece have recorded is a sonic blast.

Formed in 2019, 200 Stab Wounds are a fairly new band, but you wouldn’t know it from listening to the new record. Three years after the release of their debut album ‘Slave to the Scalpel’, the band has made a big step forward and being part of the Metal Blade Records portfolio helps 200 Stab Wounds to get some extra attention.

But what counts is the songs and the music. Those are the fundamental elements and they are extremely strong when it comes to the new album. In a way rooted in Florida-like death metal, 200 Stab Wounds unleash a sonic blast that impresses. Already the opener “Hands Of Eternity” is a fierce way to start an album. Beginning with a sinister intro, the song slowly increases in intensity.

What’s immediately noticeable is the musical finesse that these brutal death metal tracks bring to the fore. It’s not just about puking vocals combined with meat cleaver riffs. 200 Stab Wounds combines an old school death metal approach with a modern sound and sonic vehemence.

It’s also the heaviness that comes from a slower pace and a huge groove that the guys build into songs like “Defiled Gestation”, making the song is one of the album’s highlights and a breathtaking death metal anthem.

Driven by a galloping beat, the sound reveals an attention to detail with a constantly changing pattern.
The instrumental “Led to the Chamber / Liquified” proves that death metal can be brutal even without growls. Creating a grim and evil horror movie atmosphere, the song spreads its malevolence through the intense sound and screaming guitars.

“Manual Manic Procedures” is a blast and made me think more than once about the early days of Slayer. Well, 200 Stab Wounds and the new album aren’t on the same level as Slayer in the 80s, but there are some things that came to my mind. There is the rather short running time of the album. There is the youthful energy and the no boundaries approach. There is a ferocity and a fury that is the fuel for these tracks combined with an unbridled passion for extreme metal. And there is a level of filigree that, together with the brutal moments, makes “Manual Manic Procedures” stand out from the overwhelming wave of new releases every month. These guys have the passion and the potential for an exciting journey through the realms of metal.