UMUR "Knives of Ice" is the 3rd full-length studio album by US, New Jersey based death metal act Dim Mak. The album was released through Willowtip Records in April 2006. It´s the successor to "Intercepting Fist" from 2002 and features two lineup changes since the predecessor as bassist Dennis Carroll has been replaced by Scott Hornick and drummer Brandon Thomas has been replaced by John Longstreth. The latter being quite the prolific addition to the lineup, as he is known for his skillful playing on releases by artists like Origin and Angelcorpse.

Stylistically Dim Mak continue to develop and enhance the death/brutal thrash metal style guitarist Shaune Kelley and lead vocalist Scott Ruth played in their original act Ripping Corpse. Dim Mak have followed another lyrical path taking inspiration from old kung-fu/martial arts movies and eastern mystics, but the foundation to their particular brand of death metal, which features strong elements of brutal thrash metal, comes all the way back from when the two gentlemen played in Ripping Corpse.

Although both "Enter the Dragon (1999)" and "Intercepting Fist (2002)" are decent quality death metal releases and the lyrical themes/image and Ruth´s distinct sounding aggressive semi-growling vocals provide both with an original identity, none of them featured particularly memorable songwriting, nor did they feature particularly well sounding production jobs. They shone in the authenticity and rawness departments, but that wasn´t enough for them to reach the excellent mark. To my ears "Knives of Ice" is an upgrade in almost all departments possible. It´s not a flawless release, and there are still some issues with some tracks lacking memorable hooks, but the memorability of the songwriting has generally become much better than on the two predecessors, and there are several strong tracks featured on the album.

The addition of Longstreth to the lineup, has meant greater rhythmic variation too, and many of the riffs on the album are greatly enjoyable...sharp, aggressive, and brutal. Another positive feature are the guitar leads, which are very well played and feature a nice selection of notes. On the negative side Ruth´s performance is a bit up an down to my ears. Sometimes I´m blown aways by his aggressive snarling semi-growling, but other times he sounds a little out of breath or like his voice is worn from the recording sessions. That´s of course a bit unfortunate as inconsistency is rarely a positive when reviewing an album release.

"Knives of Ice" features a powerful, detailed, and well sounding production job, which suits the material perfectly. One of the many upgrades from the previous releases. All in all it´s a high quality death metal release by Dim Mak (despite a few flaws) and a 3.5 - 4 star (75%) rating isn´t all wrong.

UMUR "Intercepting Fist" is the 2nd full-length studio album by US, New Jersey based death metal act Dim Mak. The album was released through Olympic Recordings in March 2002. It´s the successor to "Enter the Dragon" from 1999 and features the exact same four-piece lineup who recorded the predecessor.

Dim Mak features several former members of Ripping Corpse and "Enter the Dragon (1999)" was in many ways a continuation of the brutal thrash/death metal of Ripping Corpse debut- and sole full-length studio album "Dreaming with The Dead (1991)", but with a martial arts lyrical themes (check out song titles like "Tai Pan Snake Venom" and "Phoenix Eye Fist"). "Intercepting Fist" is the natural successor to "Enter the Dragon (1999)" and continues the brutal thrash/death metal style of that release. Scott Ruth´s brutal aggressive semi-growling vocals are the defining feature of the band´s sound, and what make them stand out in addition to the unconventional lyrical themes. The instrumental part of the music is aggressive death metal with brutal thrash metal leanings. Dim Mak play both fast and mid-paced groove laden heavy sections.

"Intercepting Fist" features a decent quality sound production. It could have been more detailed and well defined, but if you prefer them raw and organic, this one certainly qualifies. The musicianship is also on a high level, but the songwriting is a bit one-dimensional in nature, and a few more catchy memorable moments could have made the album a bit more interesting. There aren´t many hooks to hold on to and it´s not an album you remember much from when it´s finished playing. It´s not a major issue, but it´s not a positive either. A 3 - 3.5 star (65%) rating is deserved.

UMUR "Enter the Dragon" is the debut full-length studio by US death/thrash metal act Dim Mak. The album was released through Dies Irae Productions in May 1999. The lineup features three former members of cult death/thrash metal act Ripping Corpse, who released the "Dreaming With the Dead" album in 1991. The band disbanded in 1992 after a futile attempt to record a second album and failed attempts to get a record deal. Ripping Corpse is also known for hosting a young Erik Rutan (Morbid Angel, Hate Eternal).

The music on "Enter the Dragon" is somewhat a continuation of the aggressive and technically well played death/thrash style that Ripping Corpse were known for playing. Dim Mak have added more groove and some hardcore influences to the style though, which makes their music stand out from the sound of their old band. The lyrical subject matter is also quite different from their old act, as Dim Mak have chosen to embrace martial arts/Kung-Fu themes as their main lyrical topic. There are still a few excursions into horror themed H.P. Lovecraft universe, but the former mentioned themes are the most dominant on the album (check out songtitles like "Spirit of the Dragon" or "Royal Ass Whipping"). Picking such an odd subject matter for their lyrics (not exactly the most common lyrical theme in the genre) was a very conscious move though. The band wanted to stand out from the mob right from the start and they succeeded very well in that mission.

In addition to featuring high skilled playing and an original lyrical subject matter, "Enter the Dragon" is an aggressive punch to the stomach. However lead vocalist Scott Ruth isn´t exactly your regular growling type vocalist. Allthough he on occasion does employ a more brutal semi-growl, his vocal style is more in an aggressive, beastly hardcore/thash influenced style. A real powerhouse, spitting out the words with great conviction. His vocal style is probably an aquired taste, but I really enjoy his sound, which is yet another thing that sets Dim Mak apart from most other band´s playing a similar style.

Then to the more negative things. The album is a bit long with it´s 50:53 minutes of playing time and the band could easily have cut 2 or 3 tracks to make the album a more compact and effectful release. My main gripe with the album though, is the production, which is a bit flat and lacks power. Fortunately the energetic playing and intriguing riffs make up for some of that, but it doesn´t change the fact that "Enter the Dragon" could have been a better album with a more powerful sound production. Overall the album is still a very enjoyable release and I´d say a 3.5 star (70%) rating isn´t all wrong.

UMUR "The Emergence of Reptilian Altars" is the 4th full-length studio album by US death metal act Dim Mak. The album was released in November 2011 by Willowtip Records. Dim Mak consists of members and ex-members of prolific death metal acts like Ripping Corpse, Hate Eternal and Origin.

It almost goes without saying that the presence of such high profilic musicians as Shaune Kelley and John Longstreth ensure high quality performances all around. Especially the latter delivers one more of those jaw dropping listening experiences that we´re almost used to from his side at this point. If you add to this that it´s not more than a couple of months back that he released "Entity (2011)" with the rest of the Origin guys, his performance here is even more incredible. Original vocalist Scott Ruth left Dim Mak after the release of "Knives of Ice (2006)" and is replaced here by Joe Capizzi. The latter proves to be a great replacement, delivering a vicious performance. His growling style is intelligible, commanding and aggressive as hell. The songs feature some pretty killer lyrical hooks too, which is always an asset on a death metal album.

The music is technically well played death metal with focus on memorability. We´re not talking technical death metal in the sense that it´s technical for the sake of it, but rather technical playing is used for effect. Melody isn´t often present in the music but there are some really well played guitar solos that do feature some melody.

"The Emergence of Reptilian Altars" features 8 tracks, and a full playing time of 30:09 minutes, so it´s not a very long album. What it lacks in quantity the album fully possess in quality though. The opening trio of tracks: "Thrice Cursed", "The Sounds of Carnage" and "The Secret of the Tides of Blood" set a very high standard that the rest of the album can´t quite reach. But as we´re talking an extremely high standard the remaining tracks are still excellent material. A 4 star rating is fully deserved.