The history of Russian heavy metal began exactly 30 years ago. In a country where rock was almost non-existent, the ice was broken by Aria, a Moscow band that has been at the forefront of the genre ever since.
Aria's secret of success lies in the band members' faith in personal ideals and the constant pursuit of their chosen path. The band's attitude quickly led it to fame, critical acclaim and an impressive fan base, with numbers growing year by year. The band jokes about its more recent gigs, calling them "family events": new teenage fans often come alongside their fathers, who frequented Aria concerts in the 1980s - a unique phenomenon on the Russian rock scene.
The history of Russian heavy metal began exactly 30 years ago. In a country where rock was almost non-existent, the ice was broken by Aria, a Moscow band that has been at the forefront of the genre ever since. Aria's secret of success lies in the band members' faith in personal ideals and the constant pursuit of their chosen path. The band's attitude quickly led it to fame, critical acclaim and an impressive fan base, with numbers growing year by year.
Aria
The band jokes about its more recent gigs, calling them "family events": new teenage fans often come alongside their fathers, who frequented Aria concerts in the 1980s - a unique phenomenon on the Russian rock scene.
Aria have played many, many concerts and festivals in Russia and in other countries. In 2013, they performed in Finland, Sweden, Bulgaria, Poland, the United States and Canada. In the same year they spent in Moscow a huge Festival AriaFest, which were not only Russian metal band, but also well-known Western groups such as Rage and Sirenia.
A few years earlier German metal veterans U.D.O. and Rage, who joined Aria on several large scale tours of Russia. During that period, Aria and U.D.O. frontman Udo Dirkschneider collaborated on the song and video 'Schtiel' (that would later be covered by Till Lindemann and Richard Kruspe of Rammstein).
Aria's side projects have included a computer game soundtrack, an unplugged album, a Russian-rock-all-star-collaboration on the band's 20th anniversary remake of an early hit song and several projects with a symphony orchestra, including the highly publicized Classical Aria tour.
