Dictated, Hailing from The Netherlands, is quite possibly on its way to becoming a household name in the genre of Extreme Metal. With their unique and grudging brand of death metal, Dictated seeks to punish the listener through means of force, and fear.
Phobos, Dictated’s newest release, has some of the best tried and true elements of death metal infused into musical pieces that tend to be well arranged. From groove to grind and everything in between, Phobos has you covered. What I really enjoy about the writing on Phobos, is that Dictated is not afraid to settle into a particular riff and let the riff breathe and groove. Of course, if you are into extreme metal drumming with taste, this release will surely peak your interest.
Sonically, the production on Phobos is perfect, in my humble opinion. Every instrument, vocal and backing vocal is well mixed and audible to the ear. I personally love the guitar tone on this album, it tends to be gritty and dirty (in a good way) when it needs to be all while maintaining clear notation and power.
Also important to Phobos are some of the featured musicians on the album; Death-grind tyrant Julien Truchan of Benighted tears up vocals on the opening track entitled, Hypso. Also on Phobos is well respected guitarist and producer Mendel Bij De Leij (ex-Aborted) on the track “Athaza Gora”.
My personal favorite track on Phobos is the third track, entitled “Lysso”. Lysso kicks in with a killer ‘blasty’ snare cadence by drummer Frank Schilperoort followed by a just dirty grooving headbanging riff that truly makes me feel like I should go to the gym and throw some heavy iron around. I suppose this is what we have mosh pits for?
All in all, with the release of Phobos, a number of notable international tours with bands like Origin, Psycroptic and Lividity as well as being the first European death metal band to perform at cities in India and Nepal, Dictated is a band that the whole Death Metal community should be talking about right now.
Reviewed By: Ian
Release date: October 25th 2019
Phobos’ recording lineup:
York Keijzer-Vocals
Sonja Schuringa-Guitars and Backing Vocals
Jessica Otten-Bass
Koen Verstralen-Bass
Frank Schilperoort-Drums
Track-list with duration
1. Hypso (02:57)
2. Thalasso (04:19)
3. Lysso (04:11)
4. Taphe (05:19)
5. Chira (04:47)
6. Apeiro (04:35)
7. Eisoptro (04:09)
8. Glosso (02:49)
9. Trypo (04:19)
10. Athaza Gora (04:42)
11. Atychi (03:00)
Total: 45:07