Aria - Кровь за кровь (1991)^{Release ID: 8358}

I finally got around the investigating highly regarded Russian heavy metallers Ария over the last twelve months with both their 1987 third album "На службе силы зла" & their 1989 fourth album "Игра с огнем" offering me a fair bit of enjoyment. With that in mind, I felt that I'd better complete the trio of the band's most celebrated albums with 1991's "Кровь за кровь" & it's once again proven to be worthy of my time. The production is quite raw but is effective nonetheless with the excellent vocals of Кипелов front man Valery Kipelov soaring over the top. The obvious Iron Maiden worship of the band's previous work is still as clear as day although there are very few who can claim to do it as well as Ария do so I'd be lying if I said that I didn't experience some warm feelings of nostalgia while listening to the Russian's take on what were some pivotal records for me as a teenager. The musicianship is excellent throughout, particularly the guitar work of Vladimir Kholstinin & Sergey Mavrin who both prove themselves to be quite accomplished musicians but it's Kipelov that is the clear focal point here with his tone reminding me a lot of Klaus Meine from Scorpions as usual.

"Кровь за кровь" is predominantly a heavy metal record & a particularly metal one it is too I have to say. There's just the one track that veers away towards hard rock in the excellent Dio-esque "Всё, что было". My other favourite moments can be found in the one-two punch of "Антихрист" & "Не хочешь, не верь мне", both of which are high on Maiden worship but are emphatic in their creative statements nonetheless. As usual, there are a couple of failures included too though with "Бесы" & particularly "Зомби" falling short of the mark but this doesn't ruin the party for "Кровь за кровь" as there's still more than enough quality on offer to keep my attention. In saying that, I do feel that "Кровь за кровь" is perhaps the weaker of the three classic Ария albums with its 1989 predecessor "Игра с огнем" being my pick of the bunch. There's not all that much between them in terms of quality or style though so if you enjoy one then you'll likely find enjoyment in the other two as well, particularly if you're a fan of the classic Iron Maiden/Judas Priest heavy metal sound or Kipelov's other band Кипелов.