New Featured Artist: Dictate

We're always searching for amazing talent to add to the Featured Artist lineup, and it turns out that we didn't have to look far from home - check out Dictate, the latest addition to the roster!

No stranger to osu! with over five-hundred hours played, Dictate is about as home-grown as Featured Artists get. When he's not clicking circles, he's creating the sounds that he wants to hear, and twisting them into gritty, neurofunk-inspired masterpieces.

Hailing from Renraku Global Media's lineup with a penchant for sound design and production that would easily rival someone ten years his senior, Dictate's work sports an incredible range of rhythmic variance, underpinned with pounding and snarling bass, complex percussion and much more.

If you're a fan of electronic music taken to its extreme in a darker theme, you're bound to find a kindred spirit in Dictate's sound. Mappers fond of more technical approaches to mapping will undoubtedly find something they like.

Here's a sample of what we've got available:

Militant

A gritty prowl throughout an industrial soundscape, Militant pads throughout a slow build that gradually expands in complexity at a relatively even intensity, with plenty of room to support wild jumps and experimentation with distance.

Scavenger

Tentative and foreboding, Scavenger starts off slow before exploding into a harsh, dominating and bassy synth, all underset with the twisted growling of a dark rumble.

Cauldron

Accompanied by shifting warble and stuttering percussion, Cauldron all but breathes in a bassy rumble set to synth hits that are constantly changing and shifting.

Shaman

As ominous as the name might suggest, Shaman is underpinned by sharp, striking percussion that hits you hard and fast. Varied but ever building, the track provides an excellent platform for experimenting with changes in speed and patterning.

Empire

Starting small and rapidly building to a frantic peak, Empire revels in the distant song of faded synths and padwork, spurned to a grungy sprint by unrelenting bass and percussion.

Melodik

Contemplative but ever building, Melodik repeats but does not bore, breakbeat-tinged percussion fighting with grand bassy hits for prominence.

A short version of this track is also available.

Slug

Slower paced but no less ominous, Slug features sweeping synths framed by encroaching bass.

Treason

Heavily breakbeat and drum 'n bass themed, Treason lurches backwards and forwards, but never stops building, endlessly ominous, and endlessly gritty.

Temple

Dark, looming synths are peeled bare by percussive noise into a tribal themed beat, all beset by Dictate's classic mastery of bass.

All the tracks listed above (and on his Featured Artist listing) are available now for mapping, totally free for use in osu!. Worry less, and map more!

We're already aware that a couple of mappers are way ahead of the curve with this and are already diving head-first into Dictate's sound, so don't miss out!

If you like his sound, don't hesitate to swing by his SoundCloud and have a listen to some of his other work. You can also check him out on Spotify, say hello via Twitter, or even just say hi in-game!

We've got more updates and more new artists planned for the coming weeks and months - with more than a few of them just as close to home as Dictate is!

Keep your eyes and ears peeled!

—Ephemeral