Dictated (Brutal Death Metal from Holland)

Official Facebook Page - http://www.facebook.com/dictatedmusic

Biography :- “Of course it’s visually very interesting seeing two ladies playing the guitar, but besides this fact I have to conclude solely from my musical perspective that this Death Metal band is not only a combination of speed but just as important, the catchy grooves.”

Dictated is a Brutal Death Metal band from the Netherlands, founded in 2006. In August 2008 they recorded their first promo album ‘Suppressing All Who Refuse’. This album was sold out in the summer of 2009. Shortly after many successful gigs they recorded their seconds album “ Summary of Retribution” which was released in September 2010.

“Dictated completely comprehends and with ‘ Summary of Retribution’ they deliver an ultra-heavy and damn pleasant debut. This album kicks ass. Period.” - Black Fuel

After a lot of praising reviews Dictated teamed up with Doomstar Bookings. Besides lots of great gigs with God Dethroned, Misery Index, Milking the Goat Machine, Hail of Bullets, Decapitated and many others, Dictated toured through Europe with Origin and Psycroptic in February 2012. They also played at open-air festivals in Germany and the Netherlands including Neurotic Death Fest 2012. In de second half of 2012 Dictated will continue to play gigs all over Europe and also they will start the recordings of their third album which is planned to be released in early 2013.

Kshitiz - Hey, what is the band (Dictated) doing nowadays ?
Sonja - Dictated has been very busy lately. A few weekends ago, Dictated played a couple of shows in Portugal, followed by a few shows in Holland.

At the moment, Dictated is finishing up the mix/master for the promo. The promo won't be for sale, but as a 'tease' for the upcoming album, which will be released in 2013.

Dictated is also finishing up the final details of the videoclip recorded a few days ago. It is our first videoclip as a band and we can tell you: It’s really touch recording a death metal videoclip! A small glimpse/hint: We used a high speed camera, so slowmotion windmilling and spitting scenes will be awesome to watch!

Kshitiz - Tell the eumsn readers about your band. Where are u guys from ? When was the band formed ? Who are the founding members, and the current lineup ?
Sonja - All the bandmembers are from holland and Sonja(me) started the band in Utrecht, centre of holland. Me and Jessica eventually found the rest of the bandmembers in Kampen, which was in 2006. So we always mention Dictated to be founded in Kampen, the Netherlands.

The bandmembers are: Sven van Dijk – Vocals (Visionary666)

Sonja Schuringa - Guitar

Jessica Otten - Guitar

Mart Wijnholds - Bass

Marten van Kruijssen – Drums (Houwitser)

Kshitiz - What makes 'Dictated' a good Brutal Death metal band?
Sonja - All bandmembers have their own individual musical taste and qualities. We have managed to combine them all into brutal death metal. At liveshows, we thrive to give the most energetic show as possible, entertain the crowd and give a full 100%. We all have the same goals as a band. All combined, we were able to create a - as you describe - good death metal band.

Visually, it helps to have two women (who look a like people say) and a drummer with an afro. You can see men standing in the crowd, thinking: “Ah, female guitarists. That can’t be rough/death metal.” I love the surprised faces when we are finished. “You girls actually play extreme brutal death metal!” So the element of surprise is our advantage.

Since I’m not an artist and I can’t paint, I use pictures to express the lyrics. Those pictures are used for the artwork (like Summary of Retribution) and currently I’m working on the new artwork of the upcoming album.

An album bases/created on/by pictures instead of drawn artwork (which is used a lot lately), divides us from other bands.

Kshitiz - What are your/the band's inspirations?
Sonja - As a band, we get our inspiration out of a different variety of bands. We watch other live shows, all listen to death/thrash/grind/slamming bands. Especially touring with one of our favourite band, gave us inspiration.

So brutal death slamming grind metal bands gives us inspiration.

Kshitiz - What is that something which made u to be a part of the Death metal scene ? What do u like the most about the scene, and what do u dislike?
Sonja - Amazing band members who are talented and have a lot of potential, combined into a brutal death metal band with the goal of getting our music out there! Marten has a endoursement with Meinl, Sonja and Jessica are regularly asked for reviewing guitars.

We have been playing for around 6 years now and we have become know with the Dutch death metal scene. The united feeling from the supporters of the metal scene, gives great energy. Bands come out and support each other, help each other out with gigs.

And getting marriage proposals of (drunk) fans is always fun, haha.

The downsite of the dutch metal scene, is the country is spoiled with big (foreign) bands. Big venues get big names. Which could be a great advantage if you manage to support one of those great bands. The country is pretty small and in driving distance of venues. Every weekend people can enjoy big bands, which can make a decision easily made.

Kshitiz - What are the main lyrical themes or topics in most of your songs?
Sonja - The main lyrical theme is triptych based. Sven and I write the lyrics and we both share the same type of structure and train of thought. Most songs contain subjects which can lead upto anyone's imaginations, so it's up to the reader to interpret it as they want

The lyrics to me are of great importance. They are the base of the artwork, the finishing touch for the music. Every time Sven (vocalist) roars the lyrics, it gives a rush to scream them along. Even people/fans start learning the lyrics and sing them along. That’s a big thrill!

The artwork for the new album will be pictures taken especially for the album and combined with the topic of the lyrics (suppression, desperation, powerlessness and illness) we come up with a base for the album. Then I go out and recreate the scene Sven and I write about.

Kshitiz - Which songs do you perform most frequently?
Sonja  - Depending on the time given to us for playing the live show, we adjust our setlist frequently. All band members have their personal preference, but most songs we play are from the last album, combined with the promo which will be released in January. We have new songs ready to play, but we are keeping them as a surprise until the new album comes out.

I guess the audience favourite song is Suicidal Charge (on the new promo) and Lack of Purity. The album got the best compliments on Ultimate Retribution and Lack of Purity. My personal favourite is Rail of Death, which isn’t on any album or promo (yet)

Kshitiz - Do u play any covers?
Sonja - No, we don't play covers. We have discussed a few songs to cover, but - as I explained before- the various tastes of band members, makes it hard to decide which song to pick. Our philosophy is: Either you play the song better than the original, or you don't.

Kshitiz - Who writes your songs?
Sonja - Everybody in the band has their fair share of contributions. In the beginning, Sven, Jessica and I wrote the songs. With new influences from Marten and Mart, we all write the songs. We start off writing riffs and take it up from there. Or a bandmember writes complete songs and with some fine tuning, we create a Dictated song and add it to the setlist/album.

Kshitiz - How has your music evolved since you first began playing music together?
Sonja - When the band started, Jessica and I didn't have the band experience or years of skills, so the band started of from scratch. We started practicing by playing covers at first and then created the first song, which was thrash metal orientated. Over the years, the skills and cooperation between the members started to developed and grow into the music we make now. It took a couple of years to fine tune the music, but still we grow every day.

One way or another, we always manage to finish a song with the same enthusiasm and excitement, which, with all the different tastes, sounds/looks like a challenge. I guess we all want the same thing: brutal death metal.

Kshitiz - What has been your biggest challenge as a band? Have you been able to overcome that challenge?
Sonja - The biggest challenge has been finding the right combination of bandmembers. As many bands can confirm, it's like keeping up a relationship. It's hard to keep everybody pleased and motivated, but we have managed to find the right combination.

Obviously, touring was a challenge at his own. Being cramped up with 6 people in a campervan for two whole weeks. But if you survive it as a band, you have survived the hardest part, to my opinion.

Besides that, it has his advantages of being a woman, as well as disadvantages. To me that’s a challenge that always will be around.

Kshitiz - How often do u guys tour? Any special moment u remember, that happened in any of your shows?
Sonja - We toured with Origin and Psychroptic in February 2012, which was a blast! The entire tour was managed pretty well, shows were well attended and we did sell a lot of merchandise. We have a great recollection of that tour, also thanks to Doomstar Bookings (our bookings agency) and Soundworks.

One show in Nancy, it was John (drums Origin) his birthday. Obviously, something had to be done! So, Craig, the merchandiser borrowed a thong of Jessica, wrote a few birthday quotes on his chest and back and stripped to the thong! After dancing on birthday music and embarrassing John, Craid took a dive into the audience and (obviously) lost his thong on the way back! After that, we all got drunk drinking strong liquors and together eating John’s chocolate birthday cake off a Walking Dead DVD outside the tourbus and got no sleep at all! Oh, the hangover….Good memories!

Playing at Stonehenge - Steenwijk/Holland with Misery Index was great and the long weekend in december with Beheaded in Portugal is one to remember!

Besides playing abroad a lot, we enjoy the Dutch shows equally. It's amazing playing for fans, like our biggest fan Janus, who got a tattoo of the band logo.

We hope to tour at least tour every year, small ones or tours of a couple of weeks.

Kshitiz - So when can we get access to your new album?
Sonja - We finished the recordings, mixing and mastering of our promo just now. The promo will not be for sale, but for commercial purposes only. With the promo, it's our goal to inform the public/fans of our latest work and to find a good label for the band. The promo can be found in the internet/through Doomstar in a couple of weeks! Keep a close watch on our facebook!

We are currently writing the new songs for the album. We are half way, so we hope to release the album after the summer of 2013. We are already working on the artwork, getting in contact with the studio, so most preparations are well on their way.

Kshitiz - Any words for your fans and supporters?
Sonja - Make sure you keep track of our facebook, twitter, website http://www.dictatedmusic.com etc for the new video clip and the promo of Dictated. Find us on our youtube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/Dictatednl Thank you for all your support over the years and get ready for the new album.

We would like to thank all bands we have played with, all the people who came out to watch the show during the tour and hopefully we'll be back at the end of 2013 with the release of the album!

Kshitiz - Anything u would like to say, apart from what i have asked u during this interview?
Sonja - Special thanks to you, Kshitiz, for taking the time to interview us and keep on supporting the (underground) metal scene. Hopefully we’ll soon visit Nepal to get the real metal experience!