As a label, Willowtip goes through hot periods, cold periods, and sometimes just periods. Don’t really have much of a lead-in for that sentence, just thought I’d say.

Anyway, Dim Mak are ninjas who play really catchy death metal. I think they’re ninjas, cause the concept behind this record is supposed to be some crazy martial arts shit, but I dunno I’m not really paying attention to such silliness. It’s an interesting idea, but concepts are nothing without the music to back it up/make it rise above novelty. The old singer from Leng T’che used to dress like a ninja, and they had maybe one decent record in them before jamming a throwing star in their own collective eyeball, effectively ending the Anime afternoons.

Thankfully, Dim Mak are a fucking solid band with some really interesting riffs and drumming and great angry dude vocals. "Great Worm of Hell" is a perfect example of the record in its entirety; possessing this great broken jointed riff and nutty drum pattern that shows this band to be more than some goof. Call them Hate Eternal with charisma or Nile… well let’s not bring them up… ever…again… in any context… at all. Please? No more mummy metal. Ninjas are way more bad-ass. But I digress. If you want some solid death metal that’ll kill you five times before you hit the ground, give Knives of Ice a listen.

I love you, Dim Mak.

Review byNick Benoitschwitz