It's not often that I get sent releases that are sung in a foreign language, so whenever I get a promo like that, I take the chance to listen to it and see what Rock and Metal sounds like in other languages. Before I would have only listened to Japanese music, but now I welcome the promos I get which are sung in various other languages, as it helps to educate me a bit in world music, as well as foreign languages which is something I haven't done for years, since I took a couple of language classes back in my secondary school days.

The language I shall be focusing on with this promo I have been recently sent is Russian which is a country in which I haven't really heard that much or haven't heard anything from at all when it comes to Rock and Metal music. I guess the reason behind this is maybe Russia isn't really well known for their music scene but I'm just making assumptions so feel free to ignore that remark.

The band featured in today's review is known as MUZHCHINY V METALLE (Men of Metal in English) and their debut EP "Pobeda" is the subject of the review. Formed in late 2008 in the Ural region of Russia, this group originally started out their sets with cover songs as well as their own material.

The summer of 2009 is when they started becoming active with a wide variety of gigs in their home region. For the next 5 years, they would go through several changes in terms of its members and the creative views of their members as well.

Now in 2015, their first studio release is ready in the form of a five track EP entitled "Pobeda" which was recorded from 2014 to 2015. Starting out with a fast paced number, the opening number of this EP gives you an idea of what these men of metal are all about.

Although the main language is in Russian, you can occasionally hear a few English words here and there such as Rock and Heavy Metal, which I guess makes this a good anthem for the genre with lyrics like that, as well as the overall sound and tone of this energetic opening track.

The remaining four song are also very enjoyable little anthems of Rock and Heavy Metal music and don't let the fact that the lyrics are in a foreign language put you off. Originally this would have bugged me as I used to think that if you couldn't understand the words, then there would be no point in finding enjoyment in the music.

Now though, it doesn't really matter if you cannot understand the lyrics because enjoying the performance is what really matters. So just as long as you enjoy the time and effort that was put into the performance, you may just find yourself enjoying it more and not worry about whether or not you can understand the words or not.

The above paragraph perfectly sums up why I now welcome any and all foreign language music into my musical library, as I know I can try to find enjoyment in the performance even if I may not be able to understand the lyrics. I can also apply that aforementioned criterion to this EP, as the performance of both the music and the lyrics is very enjoyable.

The musicians involved really know what they're doing when it comes to good music and you can hear that in the heavy guitars, the pounding beats from the rhythm section as well as the clean and punchy vocal performance which may occasionally have it's hit and miss moments but it's still very good for the most part.

Bottom line, the debut EP from MUZHCHINY V METALLE is five enjoyable slices of foreign Rock and Heavy Metal music. Yes the lyrics may be in a different language, but if you just really concentrate and try to find enjoyment in the performance rather then trying to understand the lyrics, then you will get on with the music just fine as the moment you begin to enjoy the performance, your curiosity of what other countries have to offer when creating music in their own language will start to bloom and soon, a whole new world of amazing music will open itself up to you.<