Review by Vladimir on August 24, 2023.

It seems that a new day can bring many surprises, and the subject of this review is indeed one of those surprises. In this review, I will be covering a new coming one-man black metal project Isposnik from Serbia, founded by Sifr Shraddha. Although many of you are not familiar with the name, some people who are actively following Serbia’s black metal scene, will undoubtedly recognize him from bands such as Ljuska, Utvar, Plamen Večnosti and Order Of The Black Skull. His newly formed project Isposnik has already introduced itself with a debut single Mrtva Utroba on August 12th, but as of recently he released a new EP called Smrt Je Kapija, on August 21st via the band’s official Bandcamp page. 

As we walk through the gateway with the opener track 'Smrt Je Kapija', we are welcomed by ominous guitar riffs, filled with rawness and primitiveness, backed up by drums and harsh vocals. The track builds everything nicely with speed and aggression through the majority of the song, but towards the end it switches to a mid-tempo section which throws in some catchiness to the riffing and drumming, as well as some epic monk singing vocals. Probably my personal favorite track would have to be the third track 'Crna Svetlost' for its good use of melodic tremolo picking and strong lyrical expression. The final track 'Zlatni Zrak' in my opinion does a fine job by providing a very powerful atmosphere from start to finish and also serving as a great closure to this chapter. The songwriting that Isposnik incorporated on this EP is pretty simple and straightforward, yet very loud and clear. The primitive rawness of the music has its strength in both the riffing and the lyrics, which altogether make a fine recipe for a raw black metal release with a feeling of death-stalking and omnipresent evil. Some people have said that this might be Sifr Shraddha’s best project yet, probably even better than Ljuska, Order Of The Black Skull, Utvar etc., but I honestly don’t think it’s really necessary to look at a musician’s entire band roster for the sake of separating one from the rest and comparing it with other works that he did. In my case I did find Isposnik a great addition to his aforementioned bands, but I personally prefer to look at his musicianship as a whole and respect the fact that he is very much capable of creating what he desires and above all willing to do so. Another strong point that I have to mention is the cover art by Katabasis Design, who has previously collaborated with Sifr on his previous works such as Ljuska and Utvar, but has also worked with another black metal band Praznina for the second EP "Nedostižni Zenit". Ever since I started following the works of Katabasis Design, something that I always admired about her surreal art style is that you can clearly tell that it’s the work of a passionate artist who understands the source material and knows how to visually represent the music through her artistic vision and creativity. The best way I could describe the sound production is that it makes everything sound like a very infested beehive but in a good way, by providing a raw but sharp tone to the guitars and vocals. 

Smrt Je Kapija marks a new dawn for Sifr Shraddha’s musical journey and also shows a great deal of promise for this new coming project. I can tell that Sifr is always ready to try out new things without hesitation or regret, which deserves some form of respect and appreciation. Although this is just the beginning for Isposnik, I have no doubt that Sifr will continue experimenting with this project and take it to the next level. If you have by any chance followed any of his previous works such as Ljuska, Utvar and Order Of The Black Skull, I suggest that you check this one out as well. 

Rating: 8.1 out of 10