"Ride The Flatline" is the latest single from Cleveland death metal outfit, 200 Stab Wounds. The punishing new track comes off the band's Manual Manic Procedures full-length, set for release on June 28 via Metal Blade Records.
A superlative sophomore effort that follows their tour de force debut, 2021's Slave To The Scalpel, 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 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."
Slave To The Scalpel saw 200 Stab Wounds insinuate themselves into the minds of extreme metal fans. Manual Manic Procedures sees the band upping the ante both musically and lyrically.
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 songs on Manual Manic Procedures are not safe for work - perhaps unsafe most anywhere. But that's its dark charm in a world where even heavy music can play it too safely. 200 Stab Wounds have crafted Manual Manic Procedures for themselves and like-minded brethren: thrill-seekers, carnage cravers, horror fans, and aficionados of the most extreme metal. Above all, 200 Stab Wounds created a future death metal classic.
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)
Pre-order at metalblade.com.
Tracklisting:
“Hands Of Eternity”
“Gross Abuse”
“Manual Manic Procedures”
“Release The Stench”
“Led To The Chamber / Liquified”
“Flesh From Within”
“Defiled Gestation”
“Ride The Flatline”
“Parricide”
“Hands Of Eternity”:
(Photo – Bailey Olinger)
