Over the past three decades, Slovakia’s death metal underground has produced its share of dedicated bands, and Dehydrated are among those who have remained active through changing times. Formed in the turbulent early ’90s, the band has weathered lineup changes, long pauses, and the ever-shifting tides of the extreme metal scene, yet their commitment to raw, honest brutality has never faded. With a new box set revisiting over 30 years of music and memories, we spoke with the band about their beginnings in post-communist Slovakia, the spirit of the underground community that shaped them, and what still fuels their passion for death metal today.
Hey! Thirty-plus years in death metal is no joke. Looking back, do you still feel that same drive you had when you started in ‘91, or has it changed into something else entirely over time?
Hey! As for me, my enthusiasm is still the same as it was 30 years ago, playing in a band is the most beautiful thing that could have happened to me in my life, it fills me up inside, it is a total relaxation for me, I can switch off and forget about all the problems in life. I am always charged with positive energy after a rehearsal or concert and I am left with nice experiences and memories.
Making music that I really enjoy gives my life meaning. And when there is a positive response from the fans, it is even more beautiful, it pushes me forward and gives me incredible strength to keep going.
When you think of the early days in Slovakia, what was the scene like, and how did it shape what Dehydrated became? Did you feel like outsiders from the start, or were you already part of a tight underground community?
We started playing when we were 17 years old, it was a bit more difficult for us, we didn’t have money for equipment, only thanks to our parents we could buy something, everything was very expensive at that time, our small country Slovakia was going through not very good times, after the revolution and the fall of communism there was an incredible mess and chaos and it took a long time for things to get back in order.
Despite that, the underground scene started to form, even though there weren’t many bands, the few that were created were, in my opinion, very high-quality bands and of course our friends.
I can say that we were already part of this great community in the beginning. We visited each other, had fun and exchanged experiences. I like to remember those times and our beginnings.
Your sound has always balanced brutality and some twisted sense of melody. Was that something conscious from the start, or did it just grow out of jamming together in the rehearsal room?
The sound itself logically depends on the studio where you record, the technical equipment and the sound engineer himself.
But the truth is that our sounds on the recordings are quite diverse, we always tried to experiment a little and that’s why our recordings are quite different in sound, that’s what we wanted and that’s how we did it.
We had some idea and we stuck to it. As for the songs themselves, we created the vast majority of them as you said in the form of jamming, I have ideas in my head, I choose the best ones, we meet with the guys in the garage and speculate until we create something.
Then we record it, we listen to it at home and if necessary we edit it to the final form. If the song is ready, guitars, bass and drums, then the vocals come and we just embellish it.
After a long hiatus, coming back with Resurrection in 2017 – was it easy to reconnect with the old energy, or did you find yourselves having to relearn each other and the way you wrote music?
I don’t think it was a problem, maybe it’s because we have metal music in our blood, and those years of experience can’t just be erased. You just throw yourself into it and it works.
Lineup changes have happened, like many bands of your age. How much do you think the band’s identity relies on the people playing versus the music itself?
Changes in the band’s lineup can sometimes be beneficial, especially in the position of drummer or bassist…. nowadays it is quite difficult to maintain one lineup for the entire existence of the band, this can be seen even in big world bands.
In any case, in my opinion, every band should have at least one member from the beginning, the one who sets the direction and is the main engine or brain of the band. If all the members change in the band, the identity is lost.
They can just rename themselves and play pop music 🙂
Thirty years of recording, touring, and surviving the underground. Are there moments or periods that still stick in your memory as “this defined us” – either for better or worse?
During this long time in the underground, we have experienced a lot of good and bad, as a leader, I was often troubled by personnel changes in the band.
And the fans notice and remember this even after 30 years of the band’s existence. Maybe this somehow defined us, that despite frequent personnel changes, we did not stop our activities and are still functioning (even though we had a longer break, we did not give up and a rebirth came).
Nowadays, when I meet people who are still loyal to us, we often laugh and remember experiences from the past, for example, when Vlado Pagac sang with us and performed at a concert with a meat cleaver in his hand, or waved a prosthetic leg that we found on the road in a car 🙂
And basically all the things, as well as recording demos, albums, concerts, traveling, entertainment, experiences, meetings with fans…. all of that stuck in our memory, it cannot be forgotten!
When you write now, do you think about legacy or history at all, or is it just the drive to create something heavy and real in the moment?
I don’t think about history, history lives in me. And certainly when I write new songs, it influences me. I don’t want to lie to myself and certainly not to my surroundings.
I am convinced that every newly formed band has traces of history in it and it is audible, even if someone tries to be I don’t know how original.
There will always be that old message from the people who started first, and showed the rest of us the way and direction.
Slovakia isn’t always on the map for death metal (for last years), but your scene has its own flavor. How do you think your roots crept into the tonality, pacing, and aggression of your music?
We are a small country, but I think we have several excellent bands here whose quality can be compared to the big bands in the world.
I will mention a few names: ABORTION, DEPRESY, CRANIOTOMY, BLOODY REDEMPTION, SURGERY, MORNA, PERVERSITY…
I am not sure if our roots are heard in our work, our country has a tradition and history in dance music called folklore, it is cheerful music that is danced and sung by people dressed in beautiful costumes, in almost every region of the country there are different, hand-woven and typical, traditional ones. That is one of our symbols from history. But it is possible that someone will find something danceable in our music and not only brutal 🙂
Some bands grow heavier, some go more technical, some lean melodic. How would you describe the natural evolution of Dehydrated across all these years?
I like speed, technique and melodies. I’ve never been interested in just one thing. Even the natural development of the band hasn’t changed my mind.
I play what comes from my insides, and the ideas are diverse. I can’t judge for myself how we’ve changed, developed, moved somewhere, it’s better to leave this to our listeners.
What matters is whether they like it or not…
When fans listen to this new box set, what’s the one feeling or impression you hope comes through, old or new listeners alike?
So I really hope that this box set will find our new fans, that they will be interested and enjoy it.
It is a true cross-section of our work over more than 30 years and I believe that everyone will find something there that will please their ears and please their metal heart.
Reflecting on the band’s journey, are there lessons you wish you could tell the younger you back in 1991 before the first demo was recorded? Thank you for your time!
I would like to say only one thing to young bands starting out: don’t try to be perfect at all costs, to have a perfect sound, to not make a mistake. Nowadays, bands try to be perfect, flawless, and in the process they lose their naturalness, the recordings sound perfect but artificial, as if machines were playing instead of people…
May you all be happy and stay true to metal music.
Thank you for the space and support in your magazine.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/526881854152655
https://dehydrated1.bandcamp.com
https://www.instagram.com/dehydrated_official
https://www.dehydrated.sk
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