Cleveland death metal legends-in-waiting 200 Stab Wounds recently announced the upcoming arrival of their new album “Manual Manic Procedures,” set for release on June 28th through Metal Blade Records.
The album’s penultimate track, “Ride The Flatline,” is a [bassist] Ezra Cook-penned song inspired by a chemical spill in the Ohio River after a train derailed. Vocalist/guitarist Steve Buhl further elaborates: “All the crazy chemicals caught fire. 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 and fucking exploding and shit.”
Listen to “Ride The Flatline” below.
A superlative sophomore effort that follows their tour de force debut, 2021’s “Slave To The Scalpel,” the new album “Manual Manic Procedures” is a brutal slab of old-school death metal with a contemporary edge. Not for the faint-hearted, the record may well be the album that puts classic gore-themed ferocity back into the metal community’s collective consciousness.
The album’s artwork – graphically depicting radical surgery on somebody who may or may not be conscious – is an immediate indicator of what this record is all about. No punches pulled, no holds barred, just blood-soaked death metal.
The themes on “Manual Manic Procedures” run the gamut of classic gore-metal horror subject matter, beloved by the band and their rapidly growing audience. “I’ll feel what kind of vibe the song has, and what topic would fit for that particular song,” vocalist/guitarist Steve Buhl explains. “The last song on the new record, ‘Parricide,’ is about someone going into a nursing home, and just blowing it up. The lyrics are about those types of corporations that don’t really give a f**k about those people. It’s all just a money grab.”
“Manual Manic Procedures”, which was produced and mixed by Andy Nelson and mastered by Brad Boatwright, will be available on CD and digital formats as well as vinyl in the following color variants:
- Disfigured Face (US)
- Septic Remain (US)
- Liquefied (US)
- 180g Black (EU)
- Dark Liver (EU – Ltd. 400)
- Seaweed (EU – Ltd. 300)
- Blood Red Black Splatter (EU – Evil Greed Exclusive. Ltd. 300)
