Release Date - 28th of June 2024
Label - Metal Blade Records
Words- Tony Bliss
With the new breed slamming down the gauntlet pretty much every other week in terms of potential future classics, there is little room for error in these heady days of death metal supremacy. 200 Stab Wounds looked to be in the rudest of health from the very start, their familiar blood ‘n’ guts approach and stonking debut album Slave to the Scalpel whipping up a froth in the extreme metal underground as the band quickly made a name for themselves as genre gods in waiting. Manual Manic Procedures does anything but drop the ball, and only enhances the fact that these lads are the real deathly deal, lopping limbs and taking heads with the very best the scene has to offer.
To be fair the artwork tells the story before we even push play - 200 Stab Wounds means serious business here, and all that matters is violence, gore and how to remove your extremities with the utmost creativity. In that regard it has been well established that the band have more than a passing resemblance to Cannibal Corpse, however, it is a varied melting pot of influences and that 200 Stab Wounds special sauce that elevates these nine tunes far beyond mere death metal by numbers, made clear from the off as ‘Hands of Eternity’ eases us in with a cleanly plucked intro ala ‘Call of Ktulu’ before a Carcass/Slayer hybrid blast peels the skin from our face. An instrumental ‘Led to the Chamber/Liquified’ also presents a small but interesting upgrade for the band, it's guitar heroism and schlocky horror-movie aesthetic a nice change of pace from the snortin ‘n’ spitting either side of it.
Make no mistake though, Manual Manic Procedures is exactly what fans would be hoping for, confirmed when the triple-headed slam attack of ‘Gross Abuse’, the title track and ‘Release the Stench’ is laid on us with unconditional sadism. Indeed, these cuts harness old-school troupes like deadly weapons - groove, speed and hooks juggled as rusty blades and thrust home with maximum brutality. As pure of heart and committed to the kill as death metal gets, this record comprehensively rules.
8/10
Comments