Ishimura plunge into cosmic dread, fusing deathcore force with blackened atmospheres, exploring Lovecraftian terror, darkness as place, and the evolving vision behind their ominous album Darketh from Serbia's underground scene.
1. Ishimura
blends deathcore brutality with atmospheric black metal. Was this hybrid sound
part of the plan from day one, or did it evolve naturally during the writing
process?
First and
foremost, we were looking at a more modern sound, but using traditional styles.
How we sound now is the result of a symbiosis of musical movements and time.
2. Cosmic
horror is at the heart of your identity. Which artists, writers, or films
helped shape the band’s vision of existential dread and terror from deep space?
Naturally,
Lovecraft first and foremost. Everything hidden and beyond the edge was
drawn from his works. There are many writers to mention - Clarke, Bradbury, and
our song "The Store of the Worlds" is completely based on the story
of the same name by R. Sheckley.
3. Your
singles “Voraxdivinus” and “Dominion” introduced
very different shades of your sound. What story were you trying to tell through
those first transmissions?
It was
actually a search for our sound. And separately, I still think they each sound
in their own necessary range. But for the album, we needed to find a common
sound.
4. The
album title “Darketh” sounds ancient, ominous, and
ritualistic. What does it symbolize in the universe you’ve built around the
band?
The result
of hard work :) I tried to depict with this word something so distant from the
everyday moment, deep and hidden, something you can't just reach with your hand
- you have to arrive at this.
5. Guitarists
Sviatoslav and Ramil are described as “visionary”. How do your creative forces
differ, and how do those differences shape Ishimura’s compositions?
We have
quite different views on music and songwriting, which in combination creates
compositions that we find interesting. The combination of these views smooths
out and strengthens various places where our approaches blend.
6. Working
with vocalist Alex on the upcoming album, how did the lyrical themes and vocal
approach elevate the cosmic concept compared to the instrumental EP era?
Instrumental?
The EP had a different vocalist. Alex on the album adhered to more old-school
views on vocals, particularly oriented in many places toward classic black
metal or old-school death metal.
7. Many
bands write about darkness metaphorically — you seem to treat it almost
literally, like a place. Is the “darkness” in Ishimura more spiritual,
psychological, or cosmic?
In each
track, Darkness has its own form. Somewhere it's Darkness from space, from the
other side; somewhere Darkness is the obscurantism of fanatical masses.
8. Serbia
has a strong extreme metal underground. How has the scene in Novi Sad supported
or influenced the band’s rise since 2024?
After the
EP release, a local metal portal did a small interview with us. But generally,
there wasn't any particular support or influence.
9. “Darketh” releases
November 21, 2025. Without spoilers, what can fans expect in terms of musical
expansion, atmosphere, or emotional impact?
Ah, that's
a secret, as work on new material is already underway, and listeners will be
able to evaluate it themselves in the near future.
10. If
Ishimura’s music were a signal picked up by something beyond human
comprehension in space… what would you hope the message communicates about
humanity’s deepest fears?
Oh no! The
new iPhone costs a hundred bucks more!!! But seriously - humanity is so stupid
that any fear of the majority would be absolutely incomprehensible to any being
in space. Only a few can contemplate something more distant than their own ass
and what happened in the media space.
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