Cleanse
Fold and Manipulate explores a number of different topics concerning medicine,
society, and politics. The song "First Aid" addresses what was the
growing AIDS epidemic of the 1980s, while "Second Tooth" concerns
with the struggles faced by Vietnam War veterans, namely post-traumatic stress.
The song "Deep Down Trauma Hounds" was written following a string of
teenage suicides in the United States. Nivek Ogre, the group's vocalist and
songwriter, said of the suicides:
It seemed
very scary to me that all these kids had such a bleak prospect on their future.
I was on the tail-end of the generation that grew up with Walt Disney and
Fantasia and Bambi and all those things that were so beautiful and important to
grow up with. You need those things to perpetuate yourself through the years
when you become cynical, instead kids are just growing up into this dark world.
Other songs
on the album pay homage to horror films. The song "The Mourn" is
based on the Japanese extreme horror movie Flower of Flesh and Blood from the
Guinea Pig film series. According to the group, the film was the closest they
had ever come to seeing what they felt was a real snuff movie. Footage from the
film has since been used in their live shows.
