ZOYA – Songs From Isolation

Zoya
Songs From Isolation
December 15^th, 2021
Playing time: 29:38

There seems to be no end to the Corona pandemic. After a few moments of hope in the summer, there are again a lot of concert cancellations. The musicians are sitting around at home. And try to fill the time without concerts with studio recordings. Recently, EPs with cover versions or acoustic sessions have become more frequent. Singer Zoya Belous, who comes from Moldova and now lives in the Netherlands, recently released a solo album, “Songs From Isolation” by her solo project ZOYA. She is known as the singer and co-songwriter of the Moldavian band Esperoza (Dark Symphonic Extreme Metal). I was able to experience the singer live with them a few years ago.

What always fascinated me about singer Zoya was the contrast of her crystal-clear soprano singing and her bitterly evil growls, between which she can switch without hesitation. This is also the case with the opening song “TTDSOV”, whatever this abbreviation may mean. I am reminded a little of her main band Esperoza, so surprising are the changes between the different melodies and rhythms. But “Moya Lyubov'” is much more melodic. And without her typical growls, here she sings in her mother tongue Russian. “Моя любовь” (My Love) is also the name of a short Russian animated film. On “Vesna”, the guitars bang more again in places. But there are also highly melodic passages again and again. And absolutely cleanly performed coloratura. In Slavic mythology, Vesna is the name of the goddess of spring. A song title like “Isolation” is totally self-explanatory. The sound is correspondingly gloomy. The instrumentation would once again fit Esperoza. Especially the omnipresent Double Bass and the forward driving drumming. Once again Zoya can score with her wide vocal range. From soprano to growl, everything is really present. In “Ce te Legeni Codrule”, a poem from 1883 by the Romanian poet Mihai Eminiscu is musically transposed, completely in the style of an opera aria, but lifted into the Metal heavens. Here the singer can once again present her vocal range, which goes over several octaves. This is followed, in keeping with the release date, by the metal versions of two Christmas carols (“Carol Of The Bells”, “O Holy Night”).

Zoya Belous has made good use of the time during the lockdown. This EP offers a lot. From melodic songs to excursions into Extreme and Dark Symphonic Metal, to Christmas songs in the colours of Heavy Metal.

ZOYA – Ce Te Legeni Codrule: https://youtu.be/hfNTBDwcPbQ

Lineup:

Zoya Belous – Vocals

Track list:

• TTDSOV
• Moya Lyubov’
• Vesna
• Isolation
• Ce te Legeni Codrule
• Carol Of The Bells
• O Holy Night