Aria
Curse of the Seas

Aria is one of those bands that I have heard about and known about for a long time but has never really listened to them – until now. The band is Russian and they sing in their native language, it is even said that they are using poets for the lyrics, kind of pointless for someone like myself, they could as well be imitating a cat or something else that doesn’t make sense, no one would understand anyway. With that you understand that the band’s name, song titles and album titles are translated to English and looks slightly different on the cover where they are written in the Russian hieroglyphs. I could add that the cover is really nice. And that it is the thirteenth album for this band that happens to be one of the most influential Russian heavy metal bands. Their first album was released back in 1985 so they have been doing it for quite a while even though the line-up has changed quite a lot over the years. But is it an album worth checking out?

Russian lyrics is probably the only thing setting this band apart from any other metal band, you can think Maiden or any other heavy metal band of choice as they are quite like them. They push all the common buttons and I wouldn’t say that they are pushing any frontiers with their new album. It feels like a solid effort done very much on routine by a band that has been doing it for quite a while and kind of knows what the fans expect and want and they don’t really want to deviate from that to explore a more creative route. It gives a few moments of déjà vu and many parts feels borrowed from classic heavy metal albums. The vocals are pretty decent but the Russian language gets a bit annoying towards the end of the eleven tracks that we get on the album, it isn’t a very attractive language like Italian or French.

I think that you can describe this as a good and solid album with catchy songs and lyrics in a different language. I get the feeling that this band has done better albums in the past, when they were a bit freer and less set in their format. This one is a tad long and not very varied and can feel a bit like a plagiary of bands like Iron. That is of course something that heavy metal fans like, they want everything to sound more or less the same and these guys don’t really break new ground, the language is exotic at first but tiresome towards the end. This lack of freshness makes me seem a tad negative when I write about it, which is not entirely correct as I think critical is a better word – in a sense it is like listening to something like Iron Maiden translated to Russian. Sure, Iron Maiden is quite good but has done the same thing for a long time and can feel like it lack imagination. But in the end the album is solid and heavy metal fans will like it, that much is certain.

As I have now actually listened to Aria I can imagine that I haven’t really missed that much. They make solid heavy metal that is fairly catchy and with a decent hit potential but they don’t really make me stop and take notice or sing along. I think their Curse of the Sea feels like the thirteenth album by a band that is good at its thing, it is fairly enjoyable but there will always be more exciting albums to chose from.

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