Dim Mak - Official Website


Intercepting Fist

United States Country of Origin: United States

1. Phoenix Eye Fist
2. Tai Pan Snake Venom
3. Komodo Whip Shambling
4. Mindgate
5. Den Of The Avalanche Dragon
6. Interceptor
7. Climbing Knife Mountain
8. Nine Head Serpentine Sire
9. Essence Of The Northern Fists
10. To The Negative Power

Review by JD on June 16, 2012.

You know... I have been seeing a trend happening lately. Mixing old school and new school metal into a cohesive melding. I find that fucking exciting as all hell - and perfect for todays metal scene. Let me put out there a band that truly does this seamlessly and with a dump truck load of talent and a huge amount of attitude to drive it. The name is Lago and you need to remember this name well.

Hailing from one of the new hotbed of metal, Phoenix Arizona, comes a mind melting Death Metal band that is challenging the status quo in the genre. Combining wicked Old School Death Metal like Morbid Angel with more up to date stuff like GraVil, they mash the two together in such a way that is it hard not to notice it. Brutality and musicianship collide, and that is the best thing ever.

As an EP, Lago’s "Marianas" is a violent ball-buster despite offering only five songs and clocking in at a light twenty minutes. With sheer power that is matched by the ferocity that Lago plays with, they come across as a straight ahead Death Metal band but has way more to offer up than a wall of distorted riffing chaos and blood splattered lyrics. They offer up traditional DM and add in that originality that comes from within. My favorite song happens to be the looming heaviness and lyrical smartness of 'Youma', one of the impressive slabs of Death I have heard in years.

This is a young band that have old metal souls and that makes their future look amazingly bright. They just have made what Death Metal needed... something to fill the gap between Old and New School that is original, honest and bone crushing heavy. Lago is a band that is true to themselves and metalheads around the globe. A formula for long term success.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Musicianship: 9.5
Atmosphere: 10
Production: 9
Originality: 9.5
Overall: 9

Rating: 9.4 out of 10

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Review by Allan on April 28, 2002.

Dim Mak are supposedly this force that play an “untouchable style” of ‘cobracore’ and metal. Also, they take this style of theirs to “new levels of endurance and discipline”. This is all according to their website. Well, if what they say is true, I must say that the listener better share the same endurance as the music does because it’s one boring ride. The fact is, what they claim to be isn’t true at all. Their style is typical, and it’s hardly disciplined. “Intercepting Fist” is overall is a bad album with only a few... very few barely interesting ideas.

Through multiple listens, I was often lost in landscape of music. All the tracks are very similar in taste. The album opens up with 'Phoenix Eye Fist', one of the most monotonous and boring tracks I’ve ever had the displeasure of listening to. It doesn’t stop there though. The generic death vocals overlying their death metal style riffing is all over this album. The album only gets mildly interesting on half way through on 'Den of the Avalanche Dragon', which is then totally ruined by the repetitiveness. But of course after that, we’re back to more boring ideas that have been used and abused far to many times. The only real credit I can give the band is to their drummer. He’s tasteful and doesn’t over utilize any particular drumming techniques.

So that brings us to the musicianship of the band. As I said, the drummer does a nice job of being tasteful. But I’m afraid it all stops there. The vocals are pretty horrible. They’re just completely boring and generic. There is nothing interesting about them at all. The guitar playing is decent but the material is so horrible it doesn’t even matter. There is really not much that is interesting in this area of the band.

Bottom Line: I don’t know what the hype over this band is. I’ve seen quite a few praises but the fact is there is no reason to even bother with Dim Mak. Their music is the music we have all heard a countless amount of times, and they’re doing nothing noteworthy with it. I say pack it up. With two albums out already, I doubt the third one will show any progression.

Categorical Rating Breakdown

Originality: 0
Musicianship: 4
Atmosphere: 1
Production: 3
Overall: 3

Rating: 2.2 out of 10

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