Aria (Russian band)
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| Ария | |
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| Country | Russia |
| Years active | 1985–present |
| Genres | Heavy Metal |
| Labels | Moroz Records, CD Maximum |
| Members | Vladimir Holstinin Vitaly Dubinin Artur Berkut Sergey Popov Maxim Udalov |
For any other meanings of this word, see Aria (disambiguation).
Aria (Russian: Ария) is a popular Russian heavy metal band that formed in 1985. The music of Aria resembles the sound of NWOBHM bands, and they have been dubbed "Russian Iron Maiden" by media. Since 1985 the band has gone through several line-up changes. Although vocalist Valery Kipelov was the main voice of the band for the majority of the albums they have released, he departed in 2002 and formed his own heavy-metal band "Kipelov". Several ex-members of Aria formed the band Master, who are still considered, along with Aria, one of the most influential Russian metal bands.
Most of Aria's lyrics have been written by the poet Margarita Pushkina.
Till Lindemann & Richard Kruspe of Rammstein has covered an Aria song, Shtil' (Штиль). In this cover version, the song's name is Germanized and spelled as Schtiel.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] Early Days
According to the band's website, its birthday should be celebrated on October 31, 1985, when they finished working on their first album, Megalomania. The album was noticed by the heavy music fans for being much unlike to any hard rock music played in the USSR at that time.
The band's founders are Vladimir Holstinin and Alik Granovsky, who met during their time in the band "Alpha". Holstinin's idea of creating a heavy metal band was enthusiastically accepted by Granovsky. By 1985 they had most of the material for their album ready, all that remained was to find a recording studio and a vocalist. They asked Victor Vekshtein to be the band's manager and allow them to use his studio. The vocalist position was soon filled with Valery Kipelov.
The name "Ария" given to the band was chosen since it was short, catchy and easy transliterable to "Aria". There's a version that name was invited by Holstinin, who own a guitar from eponymous manufacturer.
Megalomania was recorded with only Holstinin playing the guitar (with Alexander Lvov on the drums and Kirill Pokrovsky on the keyboards.). The band needed a second guitarist to be able to play live - as a result, Andrey Bolshakov joined the band. In addition, Igor Molchanov (formerly from "Alpha") replaced Lvov at the drums.
Aria's first live show was on Februrary 5, 1986 in DK MAI. The band was met with enthusiasm, and soon became a laureate of the "Rock-Panorama-86" and "Lithuanika-86" festivals. The band was still ignored by the media, but it's popularity was rising.
In November 1986, Aria released their second album, "Whom Are You With?". By this time, the band is ripped by arguments concerning both the direction the band was heading, and Victor Vekshtein's management. After a tour in January, 1987, Granovsky, Bolshakov, Molchanov and Pokrovsky left the band (Granovsky and Bolshakov later formed the Thrash metal band "Master"). They were replaced by Vitaly Dubinin (Holstinin's institute friend and former band mate) as the bass guitarist, Sergey Mavrin as the second guitarist, and Maxim Udalov at the drums. Their first large show after the reorganization, and the subsequent tour, had proven, that despite all rumors, the band was not dead.
[edit] Rise to Fame
In August 1987, Aria started working on their new album, Hero of Asphalt (originally named Serving the Forces of Evil), which is considered one of the band's best albums. 'Hero...' was Aria's first album published by the state music publishing monopoly 'Melodia'. Every show on the subsequent two-year tour had been sold out. Over a million copies of the album's LP had been sold. A music video for the song Rose Street was filmed, with the band's fans in the mass scenes.
During that time, the band's relationship with their manager had reached a critical threshold. In October 1988, Udalov left the band because of the conflict, and in November Aleksandr Maniakin was invited to replace him. In 1989, the band then released their next album, Playing With Fire, with Yuriy Fishkin as their manager.
In 1990, Dubinin and Mavrin signed up with the band Lion Heart, and left for Munich, only to return in August after finding an opportunity to cancel their contract. After celebrating their five-year anniversary with several live shows, the band begun to work on their fifth album Blood for Blood, which was released in 1991.
In the early 90's, the band decreased their activity significantly, greatly reducing the number of live shows they performed. In 1994, they created their own studio "ARIA Records", and signed a five-year contract with the label MOROZ Records. As a result, in the summer of 1994, the band's first five albums were released, including the earlier unreleased "Megalomania" and "Whom Are You With?". In September, they toured through Germany for two weeks, with live shows in seven cities, including Berlin's Hard Rock Cafe.
[edit] 90's
By the end of the 1994's tour in Germany, the band had a disagreement with the organizers, which also reflected on the relationship within the band. After the tour is over, Kipelov stopped showing up at the studio, where the band was hard at work at their next album. Within a month's time, he was found out to be playing with "Master". In December, Alexey Bulgakov (the lead singer for the band "Legion") tried out as Kipelov's replacement. In January 1995, Sergey Mavrin left the band, stating that he did not believe that the band would succeed without his friend Kipelov. Sergey Terentyev was invited to replace him as a session musician, and later becomes a permanent member of the band.
Kipelov returned to the band soon after they are is threated with sanctions by MOROZ Records for breaching the contract. He recorded the vocal parts for the new album Night is Shorter Than Day, which is released in September, 1995. The band did a series of concerts in the Moscow area, with Sergey Zadora as their new manager, recording a live album Made in Russia, which ranks high in the charts.
In 1997 Kipelov and Mavrin joined again in duo album 'Dark Ages'. Dubinin and Holstinin also recorded their own, entittled 'AvARIA', where Vitaly participated as vocalist. In 1998 Aria released 'Generator of Evil', the album of Terentyev's debut as songwriter. Next came 'Chimera' and breakthrough single 'Lost Paradise', which succeed in NASHE Radio chart and raised Aria to the new wave of popularity.
[edit] The Judgement Day
In 2001 Aria headlined the NASHEstvie festival, where they played with symphonic orchestra. This gave the band the idea for a 'Classical Aria' tour with an orchestra and a live album of the same name, which, unfortunately, was never released. During the tour, tension among the musicians and band's management arose. Kipelov refused to record the new album, already written by Dubinin and Holstinin, and declared he wanted to start a solo career. Sergey Terentyev, Alexander Maniakin and band's manager Rina Lee supported him, opposing two band leaders and producer Yuri Sokolov. 'Classical Aria' became the band's farewell tour. After the final gig August 31, 2002 at Luzhniki, Moscow, which was entittled 'The Judgement Day' (this later became the name for the whole incident), Kipelov, Terentyev and Maniakin left Aria. The next day, with by Sergey Mavrin, they started a new band named Kipelov.
[edit] New face of Aria
Despite the rumors that Holstinin would disband Aria and start a new band called 'Himera', in November 2002 a new lineup of Aria appeared. Sergey Popov from 'Master' became the second guitarist, Arthur Berkut (ex-Autograph) was invited to be the new vocalist, and drummer Max Udalov came back. On December 5, Aria released the single 'Coliseum' followed by the album 'Baptism by Fire'. A video for 'Coliseum' was shot. The release was successful, the songs 'Coliseum' and 'Kreshenie Ogneom' reached #1 on the rock charts, though many fans criticized it, arguing that Berkut's voice did not fit Aria's music.
Berkut and Holstinin participated in the 'Elven Manuscript' (Эльфийская Рукопись, 2004) metal opera by Epidemia. Arthur played the role of Irdis the elven wizard while Vladimir played on lute and also produced the opera.
In 2005 Aria celebrated it's 20th anniversary with a new tour. The band's former members where invited to participate in the anniversary tour. 'Master' and Sergey Mavrin played at it, but Kipelov did not, because of his own tour schedule.
The newest album 'Armageddon' released by CD Maximum, came out in 2006, where Aria invited two new lyric writers, and Berkut debuted as composer.
[edit] Band Members
1985
- Valery Kipelov (Валерий Кипелов) - Lead vocals
- Vladimir Holstinin (Владимир Холстинин) - Guitar
- Alik Granovsky (Алик Грановский) - Bass guitar
- Alexander Lvov (Александр Львов) - Drums
- Kirill Pokrovsky (Кирилл Покровский) - Keyboards http://www.kirillpokrovsky.com
1985 - 1987
- Valery Kipelov (Валерий Кипелов) - Lead vocals
- Vladimir Holstinin (Владимир Холстинин) - Guitar
- Andrey Bolshakov (Андрей Большаков) - Guitar
- Alik Granovsky (Алик Грановский) - Bass guitar
- Igor Molchanov (Игорь Молчанов) - Drums
- Kirill Pokrovsky (Кирилл Покровский) - Keyboards
1987 - 1988"
- Valery Kipelov (Валерий Кипелов) - Lead vocals
- Vladimir Holstinin (Владимир Холстинин) - Guitar
- Sergey Mavrin (Сергей Маврин) - Guitar
- Vitaly Dubinin (Виталий Дубинин) - Bass guitar, Backing vocals
- Maxim Udalov (Максим Удалов) - Drums
1988 - 1994
- Valery Kipelov (Валерий Кипелов) - Lead vocals
- Vladimir Holstinin (Владимир Холстинин) - Guitar
- Sergey Mavrin (Сергей Маврин) - Guitar
- Vitaly Dubinin (Виталий Дубинин) - Bass guitar, Backing vocals
- Aleksandr Maniakin (Максим Удалов) - Drums
1995 - 2002
- Valery Kipelov (Валерий Кипелов) - Lead vocals
- Vladimir Holstinin (Владимир Холстинин) - Guitar
- Sergey Terentyev (Сергей Терентьев) - Guitar
- Vitaly Dubinin (Виталий Дубинин) - Bass guitar, Backing vocals
- Aleksandr Maniakin (Александр Манякин) - Drums
Current
- Arthur Berkut (Артур Беркут) - Lead vocals
- Vladimir Holstinin (Владимир Холстинин) - Guitar
- Sergey Popov (Сергей Попов) - Guitar
- Vitaly Dubinin (Виталий Дубинин) - Bass guitar, Backing vocals
- Maxim Udalov (Максим Удалов) - Drums
[edit] Discography
For album covers, singles and compilations, see main article: Aria discography
- Mania Velichia (1985)
- S Kem Ti? (1986)
- Geroy Asfalta (1987)
- Igra s Ogneom (1989)
- Krov za Krov (1991)
- Noch Koroche Dnia (1995)
- Generator Zla (1998)
- Himera (2001)
- Kreshenie Ogneom (2003)
- Armageddon (2006)
