ария

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 music resembles the sound of NWOBHM bands, for which they have been dubbed "Russian Iron Maiden" by the media. Most of Aria's lyrics have been written not by the band's members but by professional poets Margarita Pushkina and Alexander Yelin.

formed by its former members. In 1987, four ex-members of

Aria formed the band Master, who are still considered, along with Aria, one of the most influential Russian metal bands. Vocalist Valery Kipelov, who was the main voice of the band for the majority of albums they have released, departed in 2002 and formed his own heavy-metal band Kipelov. Till Lindemann & Richard Kruspe of Rammstein have covered an Aria song, "Shtil" (Штиль). In this cover version, the song's name is Germanized and spelled as "Schtiel".

Granovsky, two members of VIA Poyushchie Serdtsa" (Singing Hearts) and

both formerly from the dissolved band Alpha. Holstinin's idea of creating a heavy metal band was enthusiastically accepted by Granovsky. By 1985 they had most of the material for their album ready, all that remained was to find a recording studio and a vocalist. They asked Victor Vekshtein to be the band's manager and allow them to use his studio. The vocalist position was soon filled by Valery Kipelov.

Holstinin would disband Aria and start a new band called

'Chimera', in November 2002 a new line-up of Aria appeared. Sergey Popov from Master became the second guitarist, Arthur Berkut (ex-Autograph) was invited to be the new vocalist, and drummer Max Udalov returned. On December 5, Aria released the single 'Coliseum' followed by the album Baptism by Fire. A video for 'Coliseum' was shot. The release was successful, the songs "Coliseum" and "Baptism by Fire" reached #1 on the rock charts, though many fans criticized it, arguing that Berkut's voice did not fit Aria's music