page_title: Aria (band)
section_title: 1990s
hierarchical_section_title: Aria (band) / History / 1990s
caption_attribution_description: English: Sergey Mavrin, Russian guitarist.
context_page_description: Aria is a Russian heavy metal band that was formed in 1985 in Moscow. Although it was not the first Soviet band to play heavy music, Aria was the first to break through to mainstream media and commercial success. According to several public polls, Aria ranks among top 10 most popular Russian rock bands. Their sound resembled that of NWOBHM bands, for which they were dubbed the "Russian Iron Maiden" in the media.
  The band has most of its lyrics written by professional poets, Margarita Pushkina and Alexander Yelin commonly, and not by its band members. Since the band was founded, several of its founder members have gone on to form bands of their own resulting in Aria becoming the root of the so-called "Aria Family". Master, a band formed by four ex-members of Aria, is one of the most influential Russian metal bands. Kipelov is another example of a band formed by lead vocalist Valery Kipelov, who remained with the band til 2002.
context_section_description: 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 Who Are You With?. In September, they toured through Germany for two weeks, with live shows in seven cities, including Berlin's Hard Rock Cafe.
  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. 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. The band played a series of concerts in the Moscow area, with Sergey Zadora as their new manager, and recorded the live album Made in Russia, which ranked highly in the charts.
  In 1997, Kipelov and Mavrin reunited in the duo album Dark Ages. Dubinin and Holstinin also recorded their own, entitled AvARIA (Russian for car incident), where Vitaly participated as a vocalist. In 1998 Aria released Generator of Evil, the album where Terentyev made his début as a 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.
caption: Sergey Mavrin was Aria's lead solo guitarist in 1987–1995
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