Ария / Aria - Через все времена / Through All Times (2014) - Falls a little short after an amazing start - 72% (28/11/14)

Ария (Aria) is a criminally underestimated heavy metal band from Moscow that has the same reputation in Russia as Iron Maiden and the likes have in the United Kingdom. The band definitely deserves this recognition as Aria has been around since 1985 when playing this kind of Western music was still officially frowned upon by the Soviet Union. Aria broke the ice by being a pioneer band of that genre and coincidentally a certain Mikhail Gorbachev became the leader of the Soviet Union in the same year and would consecutively introduce important changes leading to the end of the Cold War six years later. Twenty-nine years, eleven studio albums, ten compilation records and seven live releases after its foundation, Aria is still the most important heavy metal band of its country. Recently, the band has opened towards the international market and has toured in Germany in 2012 and even in Canada and the United States of America in 2013. Collaborations with Danish brewery Faxe and American motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson have also helped spreading the name of the band. If you care for heavy metal music, then you have no excuse for not knowing essential classics such as “Волонтёр” (“The Volunteer”, 1985), “Без тебя” (“Without You”, 1986), “Герой асфальта” (“Hero Of Asphalt”, 1987), “Улица роз” (“Rose Street”, 1987), “Игра с огнём” (“Play With Fire”, 1989) “Кровь за кровь” (“Blood For Blood”, 1991), “Штиль” (“Calm”, 2001) and “Колизей” (“Colosseum”, 2003) among others. Three years ago, Aria changed vocalist and introduced the young and talented singer Mikhail Zhitnyakov to the band. Since then, the band has released the strong studio album “Феникс” (“Phoenix”) which was its first in more than five years, the incredible “Live In Studio” release where the band plays twelve heavy metal classics in a crunching, fresh and unfiltered way and the majestic live album “В жёлтом круге арены” (“In The Yellow Circle Arena”) which is probably the band’s best live record ever. Aria seems to be rejuvenated and have been quite active over the past few years. It’s no surprise then that the band already comes around with a new studio album entitled “Через все времена” (“Through All Times”) this year.

Aria has always been faithful to the traditional hard rock and heavy metal sound without sounding repetitive, uninspired or outdated. When other bands tried to experiment with groove, industrial or progressive metal, Aria had always held the heavy metal banner high. Still, the band doesn’t sound like one of those juvenile revival bands that try to sound old school. The crystal clear and dynamical production of the new record fits modern standards in a positive way. The lyrics here and there are inspired by contemporary books, movies or television series. In a few moments, there are even a few modern sounds in form of a few symphonic keyboard sounds but they are always decently put in the background. They only become obvious in the opening of “Город” (“City”) where one could even describe them as eerie lounge sounds that slowly introduce a mellow, melancholic and hypnotizing heavy metal track with a softly sung but memorable chorus cracking the seven-minute mark. It’s the kind of traditional heavy metal song with a slightly atmospheric, modern and progressive touch that could also come from one of the last four Iron Maiden records for example. 

“Блики солнца на воде” (“Glare At The Sun”) is also one of the more experimental songs. It opens with slow guitar riffs that could easily come from a country rock song or the score of a western. The verses are slow and sound really cool while the pre-chorus and chorus are heavier and feature thick guitar sounds and high vocals. This country metal song meets a slow atmospheric middle section with silently played but still slightly galloping bass guitars and drums before the melodic mid-tempo guitar solos lead us back to the powerful chorus. While the song has obvious traditional heavy metal elements, it sounds like nothing I have ever heard before because of its hard rock and country influences that give it a very cool and almost cinematic mood. You can literally see a gunslinger riding through the wasteland and coming to a town in the Wild West while listening to this song. 

Iron Maiden has always been an obvious reference for this band. In the beginning, the band almost copied passages from classic records but later on this worship has turned into a less obvious and more creative inspiration. While Iron Maiden tend to write overlong tracks with pointless soloing these days, Aria still manage to write consistent, enthralling and precise short to mid-length songs with lengths between four and a half and seven and a half minutes. The opening title song Через все времена” (“Through All Times”) has everything a heavy metal fan can ask for. The up-tempo track features a charismatic and dominating galloping bass guitar line, powerful staccato-drumming as well as aggressive and impulsive riffs that meet breaks with mid-tempo twin-guitar harmonies and solos. The whole thing is crowned by vocals that find the right balance between grounded power and a few enthusiastically sung higher notes. This track is a strong candidate for the best heavy metal song of the year.

The rest of the album is good average heavy metal that doesn’t disappoint but it can’t quite keep up with the explosive opening trio. Most songs sound like standard heavy metal songs but in Aria’s case we are still talking about a high standard. The band keeps on varying its approaches as we can the laid-back and plodding ballad “Точка невозврата” (“Point Of No Return”) which isn’t really my cup of tea, the slow-paced and eerie epic “Зов бездны” (“Call Of The Deep”) that is maybe a little bit too tame and long for its own good and a short stomper like “Ангелы неба” (“The Angels Of Heaven”) which sounds like a slower and more atmospheric version of Iron Maiden’s “Two Minutes To Midnight”.

In the end, what we have here is a below average Aria album, an above average traditional heavy metal release and probably the best heavy metal album of the year 2014 at the same time. Aria keeps a dying genre alive and they do it with a diversified song writing approach without losing the genre’s clear guiding line, a solid dose of honest enthusiasm and a rejuvenated sound in terms of production, keyboard layers and vocals. Fans of the band should be satisfied with this record while new fans could start right of with the “Live In Studio” effort that will blow you away, introduce you to the current line-up and present you a significant number of Russian heavy metal classics at the same time.