Dim Mak

Dim Mak is a band featuring former Ripping Corpse members Scott Ruth and Shaune Kelley, bassist Scot Hornick, and drummer John Longstreth (ex-Origin, Skinless, Angel Corpse). The original incarnation of the band featured Ruth and Kelley alongside other Ripping Corpse members Dennis Carroll and Brandon Thomas (also of The Dying Light), and this version of the band released the albums Enter The Dragon and Intercepting Fist, two technically accomplished albums of metal fury that sounded quite original for a metal band at the time.

Thomas and Carroll left the band in 2002 and Dim Mak laid low for a few years until the recruitment of Hornick and Longstreth for 2006's Knives of Ice, which may be their best album yet. Their sound is incredibly fast, which is typical of many death metal bands, but the guitar riffs are actually creative and memorable, without ever resorting to any At The Gates-styled cliches or breakdown-heavy garbage. The drumming is very blast-beat heavy, but the cymbal work and seamless tempo shifts help keep the songs from becoming too monotonous. The vocals never resort to low, mindless grunting, but retain a consistent, grating sound the whole time.