IZROD hails from Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina and are part of the ever-expanding Black Plague Circle collective. They released their full-length debut in 2023, and now, some two years later, are following up with their sophomore album, Ulica, trnje i kamenje, via Signal Rex. The release date? The day of love, February 14, 2025. The four-track, 22-minute EP—loosely translated as ‘street, thorns, and stones’—is a savage but oddly eclectic Black Metal reflection of modern-day existence.

The album starts with a short piano intro, “Svitanje” (trans: dawn)—a little warbly; a whole lot haunting. Following “Svitanje,” the real fun begins. You could say that “Svitanje” sets up the promise or mystique of the ideal (just like dawn promises so much about the new day) while the following three tracks reflect the reality.

Examining those three tracks, with “S&P” we get a barrage of shifting arrangements from melodic tremolo to bizarre taunting to curious lead solos to an outro of spoken word. “Ulica, trnje i kamenje” continues this erratic modality while offering up more harsh depictions of street life. Even relying on Google for translation, the lyrics are raw and cutting:

            “Street! Thorns! And stones!

I can't hide my disgust!

Street! Thorns! And stones!

It has no deeper meaning!

Street! Thorns! And stones!”

The final track, “Raskošan prizor opšteg rasula” outwardly continues the eclectic assault but with periodic acoustic breaks, perhaps recalling the promised serenity from the first track. Lyrically, the track also differs from the others in that it turns more inward. Consider also the title which my app crudely translates as ‘a sumptuous scene of general desolation.’ Okay, even with the bad translation, the punch line is obvious: So here we are in the culturally rich Sarajevo which is juxtaposed with the internal carnage that life has inflicted on the narrator. His anguish is reflected in the lines:

“If I had a heart, it would be broken right now

If I had a soul, I would sell it immediately”

The highly secretive IZROD offers up another Black Metal artifact for us to ponder. Wrapped in brutal and discordant compositions are lyrics which reflect a starkly precise image that many of us feel. You don’t have to be from Sarajevo to understand this premise—the gap between the promise of the world and how most people experience it is a craggy maw filled with broken concrete and shattered glass and demolished lives. So, yeah, a nice Valentine’s release from IZROD with Ulica, trnje i kamenje.