Aria (Russian: Ария) is a popular Russian heavy metal band that formed in 1985. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other In the Music industry, a record label can be a Brand and a Trademark associated with the Marketing of music recordings and Music Kipelov (Кипелов is a Russian Heavy metal band formed and led by former Aria vocalist Valery Kipelov. This article is about the Russian thrash metal band For the American death metal band see Master (band. Sergey Konstantinovich Mavrin (ru Сергей Константинович Маврин nicknamed 'Mavrick' (Маврик (born February 28, 1963) is a For the Genus of Gossamer-winged butterflies, see Epidemia (butterfly. UDO is a German heavy metal band founded by lead singer Udo Dirkschneider in 1987. Vladimir Petrovich Holstinin (rus Владимир Холстинин is a Russian Guitarist. Vitaly Alexeyevich Dubinin (Виталий Дубинин is the Bass guitarist of the Russian Heavy metal band Aria. Arthur Vecheslavovich Mikheev (born May 24, 1962) better known under his Stage name Arthur Berkut (Russian Артур Беркут Maxim Udalov (Максим Удалов born June 16, 1966, in Moscow, USSR) is the Drummer of the Russian Heavy Valery Alexandrovich Kipelov (Валерий Александрович Кипелов (born July 12, 1958) is a Russian music artist and composer Sergey Konstantinovich Mavrin (ru Сергей Константинович Маврин nicknamed 'Mavrick' (Маврик (born February 28, 1963) is a Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The music of Aria resembles the sound of NWOBHM bands, and they have been dubbed "Russian Iron Maiden" by the media. The New Wave of British Heavy Metal (frequently abbreviated as NWOBHM) is a heavy metal music movement that started in the late 1970s in Britain, and achieved For other uses see Iron maiden. Most of Aria's lyrics have been written by the poet Margarita Pushkina.

Aria is the root of so-called "Aria family": several bands formed by its former members. In 1987, four ex-members of Aria formed the band "Master", who are still considered, along with Aria, one of the most influential Russian metal bands. This article is about the Russian thrash metal band For the American death metal band see Master (band. Vocalist Valery Kipelov, who was the main voice of the band for the majority of albums they have released, departed in 2002 and formed his own heavy-metal band "Kipelov". Valery Alexandrovich Kipelov (Валерий Александрович Кипелов (born July 12, 1958) is a Russian music artist and composer Kipelov (Кипелов is a Russian Heavy metal band formed and led by former Aria vocalist Valery Kipelov.

Till Lindemann & Richard Kruspe of Rammstein have covered an Aria song, Shtil' (Штиль). Till Lindemann (born January 4, 1963) is a German musician and poet who is most notable as being the Frontman and lead-vocalist Richard Zven Kruspe (born 24 June, 1967) is a German musician most notable as the founder and lead-guitarist for the German ("Dance Rammstein (ˈʀamʃtaɪ̯n is a German Industrial metal band founded in Berlin, and consisting of Till Lindemann ( lead vocals In this cover version, the song's name is Germanized and spelled as Schtiel.

History

Early days

The band was founded by Vladimir Holstinin and Alik Granovsky, two members of VIA "Poyushie Serdsa" and both formerly from the dissolved 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 by Valery Kipelov. Valery Alexandrovich Kipelov (Валерий Александрович Кипелов (born July 12, 1958) is a Russian music artist and composer

The name "Ария" was given to the band because it was short, catchy and easy transliterated to "Aria". There's a version that the band name was thought up by Holstinin, who owns a guitar from the eponymous manufacturer. Aria is a Japanese manufacturer of acoustic and electric Guitars and basses. Both fans and members of Aria are often informally referred to as "ariytsi" (russian for aryans). Aryan is an English word derived from the Sanskrit " Ārya " meaning "noble" or "honorable"

According to the band's website, Aria's birthday is celebrated on October 31, 1985; the date they finished working on their first album, Megalomania. Events 445 BC – Ezra reads the Book of the Law to the Israelites in Jerusalem (see Nehemiah 91 NLTse Year 1985 ( MCMLXXXV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar) Mania Velichia (Megalomania is the debut album by heavy metal band Aria. The album was noticed by heavy music fans because it was much unlike any hard rock music played in the USSR at the time. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991

Megalomania was recorded with only Holstinin playing guitar (with Alexander Lvov on the drums and Kirill Pokrovsky on the keyboards. Mania Velichia (Megalomania is the debut album by heavy metal band Aria. ). 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 on drums.

Aria's first live show was on February 5, 1986 in DK MAI. Events 1576 - Henry of Navarre converts to Roman Catholicism in order to ensure his right to the throne of France. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) The band was well received by the public, and soon became a laureate of the "Rock-Panorama-86" and "Lithuanika-86" festivals. Although they were still being ignored by the media, their popularity kept rising.

In November 1986, Aria released their second album, Whom Are You With?. By this time, the band was divided by arguments concerning both the direction the band was heading, and Victor Vekshtein's management skills. After a tour in January, 1987, Granovsky, Bolshakov, Molchanov and Pokrovsky left the band (Granovsky and Bolshakov later formed the thrash metal band "Master"). Thrash metal (sometimes referred to simply as thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized by its fast tempo and aggression This article is about the Russian thrash metal band For the American death metal band see Master (band. They were replaced by Vitaly Dubinin (Holstinin's university friend and former band mate) as bass guitarist, Sergey Mavrin as second guitarist, and Maxim Udalov on the drums. Sergey Konstantinovich Mavrin (ru Сергей Константинович Маврин nicknamed 'Mavrick' (Маврик (born February 28, 1963) is a Their first large show after the reorganization, and the subsequent tour proved that despite all rumours, the band was not dead.

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. Geroy Asfalta (Hero of Asphalt is third album by Heavy metal band Aria Hero. . . was Aria's first album published by the state music publishing monopoly Melodiya. Melodiya ( Μелодия, meaning Melody) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) Record label. Every show on the subsequent two-year tour sold out. Over a million copies of the album's LP have been sold. A music video for the song 'Rose Street' was filmed, with the band's fans in mass scenes.

During that time, the band's relationship with their manager had reached a critical point. 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. Igra s Ogneom (Playing with Fire is the fourth album by heavy metal band Aria

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 began to work on their fifth album Blood for Blood, which was released in 1991. Krov za Krov (Blood for Blood is an album by Aria Track listing "Прощай Норфолк!" (Farewell Norfolk(music by Vitaly Dubinin & Vladimir

In the early 1990s, 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?. Mania Velichia (Megalomania is the debut album by heavy metal band Aria. In September, they toured through Germany for two weeks, with live shows in seven cities, including Berlin's Hard Rock Cafe. Hard Rock Cafe was founded in 1971 by Isaac Tigrett and Peter Morton, and their first Hard Rock Cafe opened near Hyde Park Corner in London,

1990s

By the end of the 1994 tour in Germany, the band had a disagreement with the organizers, which also reflected on the relationship within the band. After the tour ended, 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". This article is about the Russian thrash metal band For the American death metal band see Master (band. 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 were threatened with sanctions by MOROZ Records for breaching their contract. He recorded the vocal parts for the new album Night is Shorter Than Day, which was released in September 1995. Noch Koroche Dnia (Night is Shorter Than Day is an album by Aria The band played a series of concerts in the Moscow area, with Sergey Zadora as their new manager, recording a live album Made in Russia, which ranked highly in the charts. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of

In 1997 Kipelov and Mavrin reunited in the duo album Dark Ages. Dubinin and Holstinin also recorded their own, entitled AvARIA, where Vitaly participated as vocalist. In 1998 Aria released Generator of Evil, the album where Terentyev made his début as songwriter. Next came Chimera and the breakthrough single 'Lost Paradise', which did well in the NASHE Radio chart and raised Aria to the new level of popularity.

Judgement Day

In 2001 Aria headlined the NASHEstvie festival, where they played with a symphonic orchestra. Nashestvie (Russian Нашествие literally "invasion" is the largest open-air festival of Russian rock music This gave the band the idea for a 'Classical Aria' tour with an orchestra and a live album of the same name. Unfortunately, this was never released. During the tour, tension among the musicians and band's management arose. Kipelov refused to record a 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 the 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 entitled 'Judgement Day' (this later became the name for the whole incident), Kipelov, Terentyev and Maniakin left Aria. Events 1056 - Byzantine Empress Theodora becomes ill dying suddenly a few days later without children to succeed the Throne See also 2002 (disambiguation Year 2002 ( MMII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. The Grand Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex ( Большая спортивная арена Олимпийского комплекса Лужники) in Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of The next day, they started a new band named Kipelov. Kipelov (Кипелов is a Russian Heavy metal band formed and led by former Aria vocalist Valery Kipelov.

The new face of Aria

Live show at Luzhniki, November 18, 2003

Despite the rumours that Holstinin would disband Aria and start a new band called 'Himera', in November 2002 a new line-up of Aria appeared. The Grand Sports Arena of the Luzhniki Olympic Complex ( Большая спортивная арена Олимпийского комплекса Лужники) in Events 326 - The old St Peter's Basilica is consecrated 1302 - Pope Boniface VIII issues the Papal bull Year 2003 ( MMIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. Sergey Popov from 'Master' became the second guitarist, Arthur Berkut (ex-Autograph) was invited to be the new vocalist, and drummer Max Udalov returned. Autograph (Автограф or Avtograf) is a Rock band from the Soviet Union and Russia. On December 5, Aria released the single 'Coliseum' followed by the album Baptism by Fire. Events 63 BC - Cicero reads the last of his Catiline Orations. A video for 'Coliseum' was shot. The release was successful, the songs 'Coliseum' and 'Baptism by Fire' 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. Elfiyskaya Rukopis' (Эльфийская Рукопись Elven Manuscript 2004 is a Metal opera and Concept album by Russian Power metal band For the Genus of Gossamer-winged butterflies, see Epidemia (butterfly. Arthur played the role of Irdis the elven wizard while Vladimir played the lute and also produced the opera.

In 2005 Aria celebrated its 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. Sergey Konstantinovich Mavrin (ru Сергей Константинович Маврин nicknamed 'Mavrick' (Маврик (born February 28, 1963) is a

The newest album 'Armageddon' released by CD Maximum, came out in 2006, where Aria invited two new lyricists and Berkut made his début as composer.

On April 3, 2008, Kipelov and Mavrin made a brief re-union with Aria, during the tour celebrating the 20'th years anniversary of "Hero of Asphalt" release. Events 1043 - Edward the Confessor is crowned King of England. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Geroy Asfalta (Hero of Asphalt is third album by Heavy metal band Aria

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 (Александр Манякин) - 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

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)

Music videos

• Pozadi Amerika
• Volya i razum
• Ulitsa roz
• Vse, chto bylo
• Otshel'nik
• Gryaz'
• Voz'mi moe serdtse
• Igra s ognem
• Poteryannyi Rai
• Bespechnyi Angel
• Oskolok L'da
• Shtil (with Udo Dirkschneider)
• Kolizei
• Kreshenie ognyom
• Tam visoko
• Poslednyi zakat

External links

• Aria's official site in (Russian)
• Watch live video for Aria - Igra s Ognem with orchestra
• Aria on MySpace.com
• Aria on Last.fm
• Aria on MetalStorm
• Aria on RockDetector
• Ariya on RussMus.Net: English translations of the lyrics and much more!, in English
• Aria on Encyclopaedia Metallum, in English