200 STAB WOUNDS - Manual Manic Procedures LP (Black Vinyl)

Listening to this album brings me back to the days when I first heard Cannibal Corpse's "Hammer Smashed Face" and felt utterly blown away by its sheer heaviness and musicality. It was a time when death metal was raw, unfiltered, and teeming with energy. As the 2000s progressed, I felt the genre began to lose some of its primal edge, leaning more towards progressive influences, technical prowess, and polished production. The visceral connection to horror movies, which I found so integral to death metal, seemed to fade from the kinds of bands that were getting the most attention.

Enter 200 Stab Wounds, a band that has rekindled my passion for death metal. Their music embodies the spirit of the genre's early days while infusing it with a fresh perspective rooted in hardcore. They seamlessly blend elements that have always been a part of death metal but were overshadowed for a time. Bands like Dying Fetus, Obituary, Cannibal Corpse, Suffocation, all these bands have roots or deep appreciation for hardcore, it has always been a massive part of death metal.