Let’s face it, before bands like In This Moment stepped into the metal genre, the music was mainly a male-fronted creation. Female-fronted acts had to fight and claw their way into being accepted by metalheads around the world. But, in recent years we have seen an influx of female-fronted acts taking the main stage and releasing some killer music. The same can be said for Russian native, Elizaveta Tursunova, known to many simply as Moscow.
Now don’t let her pretty face distract you, this young lady knows how to rock, even though she is ranked on Revolver Magazine’s “25 Hottest Chicks In Hard Rock”. With the release of Moscow’s Queen Of Sin EP, she solidifies her place in the genre, with her unique mix of tones and vocals.
The five-track, eighteen-minute release opens in heavy fashion with the album’s title track. Now don’t let the simple instrumentation make you retract from listening to the record, this is a platform for Moscow’s vocals to shine through. Mixing softer, more melodic vocals with heavy hitting screams, the vocal tones blend well with the lyrical content of the songs, putting emphasis on key lyrics.
One song that stood out to me the most was the third track on the release, “Black Widow”. The song blended heavy, dark instrumentation with soft, clean vocals, with a dash of pop elements. Half way through the track, the addition of some heavy vocals added another layer to the music. The heaviest track on the release by far is the EP’s closing track, “Heartbeat”. Moscow releases her vocal fury on this song, mixing back with the clean vocals during the hooks, again the stripped-down instrumental work leads way for the audience to focus simply on her, despite the ripping guitar solo in the middle of the track.
Overall, I think that Moscow has created an EP that will leave people looking forward to a full release from the band. This is a very solid start to something that has the potential to explode into a much bigger phenomenon. Queen Of Sin is now available via Spotify, Apple Music, Google Play and all other major streaming and download sites
