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7.0
- Bands:
200 STAB WOUNDS - Duration: 00:29:27
- Available from: 06/28/2024
- Label:
-
Metal Blade Records
Streaming not yet available
Riffs stacked on top of each other. The loss of points of reference, a disturbed perception that leads to unconsciousness, to delirium. 200 Stab Wounds’ songwriting so far has never paid too much attention to structures, let alone the so-called song form. For Americans, the impact force has always come first, perhaps to the detriment of a logical construct capable of making a piece memorable in its entirety. However, with the new “Manual Manic Procedures” the Cleveland group tries to bring some order: let’s call it greater maturity or even just the desire to reach a wider audience, after having entered the Metal Blade Records stable; the fact is that the new compositions show off a pinch more musicality, while remaining faithful to that death metal-coated crossover that has made the quartet quite famous in the underground so far.
One of the first things you notice is the overall slowdown in pace: 200 Stab Wounds have decided to slightly reduce the speed of their compositions, allowing the riffs – the number of which has also decreased – to breathe and impose themselves with greater authority. This choice has also led to an extension of the duration of some songs, which now have more space to develop and grow, without giving up the ferocious impact that has always characterized the music of the Americans. Despite the slowdown and reduction of the riffs, the raw energy, dynamism and aggression of the group remain intact, with a touch of melody – and even some arpeggios – popping up here and there, adding a slight new nuance to their sound.
Otherwise, 200 Stab Wounds’ rough formula continues to be based on no-frills death metal, heavily bastardized by thrash and hardcore elements. Fans of early Cannibal Corpse, Jungle Rot and Dying Fetus will find many of the solutions present in “Manual Manic Procedures” familiar, while the metal hardcore influences of bands like All Out War and Turmoil are equally evident and all in all well integrated. This stylistic crossover creates a sound that can please both hardcore kids and smooth-talking death metallers, those more inclined towards direct impact rather than atmosphere or technique.
The definition of “mosh metal” seems to fit perfectly to describe the music of 200 Stab Wounds: their direct and ignorant approach, never adhering to a single genre, is in fact designed to unleash chaos in live contexts, where the energy of band can really be appreciated.
Even if the album does not introduce anything transcendental, the quartet’s efforts therefore manage to entertain and keep the listener’s attention high, thanks to an undoubted underlying immediacy that is well-liked, developing the conditions to pocket the due visibility even in environments that are not strictly underground.
