200 Stab Wounds

Originally from Cleveland, Ohio, 200 Stab Wounds belongs to the new wave of American death metal, developing a direct sound centered on heavy riffs, often mid‑tempo pacing, and guttural vocals reminiscent of 1990s death metal. Formed in the late 2010s around guitarist and vocalist Steve Buhl, 200 Stab Wounds first drew attention on the underground circuit with the EP Piles of Festering Decomposition in 2020, released by the Californian label Maggot Stomp, which tied them to a scene oriented toward raw, upfront death metal. Their debut album, Slave to the Scalpel, released in 2021, affirmed this identity with short compositions focused on tempo shifts, elements borrowed from thrash, and imagery steeped in gore, dissection, and horror cinema. Afterwards, 200 Stab Wounds signed with Metal Blade Records and followed with singles and intensive touring, consolidating a steady presence on stages and festivals dedicated to extreme music in North America and Europe. While retaining compact, hook‑driven songwriting, they have gradually evolved their formula toward more developed structures, more detailed guitar melodies, and a heavier production, as evidenced by the 2024 album Manual Manic Procedures.