Traditional trademarks and fresh ideas - A review of Aria's Curse of the Seas

Aria is the first, greatest and most popular Russian heavy metal band. Thirty-three years after its foundation, the band has now released its thirteenth legitimate studio record and is still going strong. Guitarist and sole remaining founding member Vladimir Kholstinin is still delivering gripping, melodic and uplifting riffs. The rhythm section around versatile drummer Maxim Udalov and dominant bass guitarist Vitaly Dubinin joined two years after the band saw the light of day and are still playing with the refreshing juvenile spirit of yore. Second guitarist Sergey Popov joined about one and a half decades ago and gave the band some new energy as he participated on some of the band's best releases. Most recent addition is skilled singer Mikhail Zhitnyakov who joined seven years ago and brought a breath of fresh air to the veteran band. Aria had most recently experimented with classical sounds and performed their classics with orchestras. This recent development had a positive impact on thirteenth studio record Curse of the Seas. The songs are more elaborate, epic and melodic and include sometimes piano and string passages. The song writing has also become slightly more progressive and this album is the band's longest so far, including eleven songs and clocking in at an impressive running time of more than seventy-five minutes. The closing title track that unites all of the band's qualities and trademarks even clocks in at just above twelve minutes, making it the longest track in the band's impressive history.

Many contemporary heavy metal bands try to sound more epic, experimental and progressive and forget about what made these bands great in the past. This isn't the case for Aria as the record opens with the powerful, melodic and fast ''Race for Glory'' that has a running time below five minutes and sounds like a revamped version of passionate traditional heavy metal that should appeal to fans of Accept, Iron Maiden and Saxon.

The more experimental tracks are executed with care. ''Varangian'' is one of the greatest songs the band has ever written, opening with truly enchanting piano and string sounds before evolving into an epic heavy metal anthem for the ages. ''It's Hard to Be a God'' impresses with a particularly engaging rhythm section as the drums are truly energetic and the bass guitar is at the core of this excellent track. ''Everything Begins Where the Night Ends'' shifts brilliantly between mid-paced melodic passages and up-tempo heavy metal outbursts. ''Alive'' sounds much shorter than its running time of nine minutes and tricks you into starting like a heartfelt ballad before evolving into a heartfelt heavy metal anthem that does its title justice and is filled with dynamic changes that work out instantly but request multiple spins to grow on you. Closing epic ''Curse of the Seas'' recalls the greatest heavy metal epics of the eighties and convinces with atmospheric sound samples, cinematic storytelling and a multitude of creative ideas. It wouldn't be exaggerated to compare this song to Iron Maiden's ''Rime of the Ancient Mariner'' without copying it or sounding old-fashioned at any time.

Many fans claim that the band's line-up with original singer Valery Kipelov was the greatest and one can't deny that this line-up formed and shaped Russian heavy metal as it is today. However, the records released with Artur Berkut in the last decade were a step forward for the band as his arrival represented the right change at the right time. This is now also the case for Mikhail Zhitnyakov who has released two very good albums with the band in form of Phoenix and Curse of the Seas and one above average output with Through All Times. Aria is one of the few heavy metal veterans that have become stronger with line-up changes instead of struggling with them. Curse of the Seas offers excellent heavy metal entertainment that finds the perfect balance between traditional trademarks and fresh ideas. The Russian lyrics only add an emotional depth to the material as it's a very poetic, diversified and simply beautiful language that suits this genre very well. The stunning album cover is only the cherry on the cake. Even though Aria doesn't reinvent heavy metal, this record is a very serious candidate for heavy metal album of the year.

Final rating: 86%