┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ │■ ■│ │ .-/ .-. │ │ _.-~ / ___ | ~-._ │ │ \:/ -~| / __/| .\:/ │ │ / || (:/:| \ │ │ / /\/| |:\___\| |\ \ │ │ / /:::|.::/:::/:.|:\ \ │ │ / /:::/ \\/:::/::/:::\ \ │ │ / .::\ \-~~~~-/\/:.. \ │ │ /..:::::\ /:::::..\ │ │ /::::::::- -::::::::\ │ │ \:::::-~ ~-:::::/ │ │ \:-~ ~-:/ │ │ METAL CLASSICS ARCHIVE │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ P R E S E N T S │ │ │ │ │ │ + Aria - Baptizing With Fire + │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Information ║ │ │╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Rls Date..2020-04-12 Encoder......LAME 3.100 ║ │ │║ Genre.....Heavy Metal Graber.......EAC ║ │ │║ Year......2003 Khz/Bitrate..44.1 / VBR kbps ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Ripper....Anthem Songs........9 ║ │ │║ Source....CD Covers.......Yes ║ │ │║ Url..http://www.aria.ru ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Notes ║ │ │╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Artist : Aria ║ │ │║ Album : Baptizing With Fire ║ │ │║ Label : Mystery Of Sound ║ │ │║ Cat.No : MZ-144-9 ║ │ │╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Description : ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ "Christening of fire" was the first Russian metal album I ║ │ │║ ever bought along side with "Chimera" when I was in Saint ║ │ │║ Petersburg in 2006 it just blew me away. Nowadays, it is ║ │ │║ really hard to find a really good heavy metal album in the ║ │ │║ original sense of it. Heavy, but melodic guitars which play ║ │ │║ many interesting solos in each song. A dominating and ║ │ │║ galloping bass guitar that works hand in hand with a tight ║ │ │║ drumming. A clean and melodic but still manly and ║ │ │║ charismatic voice. Topics touching the metal scene or ║ │ │║ historical events. Aria all deliver that in here. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Most people say that the heavy metal genre is like a ║ │ │║ dinosaur just before the meteor hits. Well, after I've had ║ │ │║ listened to this album, I couldn't agree at all. This album ║ │ │║ must not hide behind the legendary albums of the eighties, ║ │ │║ no, it is even better than a lot of stuff that has been ║ │ │║ published in that time. After having discovered this band, ║ │ │║ I listened to most of their album and although I like the ║ │ │║ old ones like "Hero of asphalt" or "Play with fire", this ║ │ │║ album is more than on the same level for me and finally one ║ │ │║ of my favourite heavy metal albums of all time. I wish that ║ │ │║ Judas Priest or Iron Maiden would be able to create such an ║ │ │║ amazing effort nowadays to recreate a genre which is not ║ │ │║ dead at all and could still have a lot more to say. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Now, let's talk about the songs. The fast opener "Patriot" ║ │ │║ is heavy, fast, melodic and reminds a little bit of Judas ║ │ │║ Priest, especially because of the drum intro honouring ║ │ │║ somehow the legendary "Painkiller". I've heard later that ║ │ │║ the band broke in two parts just before this album. Well, ║ │ │║ you don't hear that at all. This album is straight, fresh ║ │ │║ and way better than the overrated average record "Chimera". ║ │ │║ The split was what the band needed at that time. The band ║ │ │║ brings in one catchy metal song after the other like the ║ │ │║ atmospheric hymn "Christening by fire", the amazing single ║ │ │║ "Coliseum", maybe the best metal single in a whole decade ║ │ │║ and definitely the highlight of the album with its amazing ║ │ │║ guitar solos, the galloping sound of the bass reminding of ║ │ │║ a Steve Harris in his best years, the great chorus and the ║ │ │║ amazing middle part. This song just gives me goose bumps. ║ │ │║ It has been a while that I haven't heard an album that ║ │ │║ opens with three such amazing songs which reach for the ║ │ │║ heavy metal crown. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ "Palach" is then a more epic and experimental song and ║ │ │║ sounds different but really interesting. Sadly, with this ║ │ │║ song, there is a little break in the album, because this is ║ │ │║ the first song that isn't a hundred percent perfect and ║ │ │║ shows some lengths. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ But then it goes back to heavy metal at its best with the ║ │ │║ faster one "Your new world" which has an amazing chorus. ║ │ │║ "There highly" is an amazingly sung ballad with nice ║ │ │║ acoustic elements. That sounds quite ordinary and ║ │ │║ traditional as a ballad and it is, but it works very well. ║ │ │║ The band doesn't try to do strange experiments in here, ║ │ │║ they just do what they always knew to do and it works ║ │ │║ perfectly. The melodic "Flag of Truce" has also some ║ │ │║ acoustic and harmonic parts and faster post-chorus that ║ │ │║ contrasts that style very well. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ "Fight" surprises with a weird and experimental ending with ║ │ │║ nice sound effects and a haunting voice but this song is a ║ │ │║ little bit weaker than the three once again amazing songs ║ │ │║ just before it. "Ball at prince of darkness" is a typical ║ │ │║ and traditional heavy metal song that finishes the album ║ │ │║ but figures out to be maybe the most ordinary song on the ║ │ │║ album because there is the famous certain something ║ │ │║ lacking. ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ All in all, this album can be considered as a classical and ║ │ │║ pure heavy metal album, but it sounds fresh, motivated and ║ │ │║ straight. Surprisingly, the more traditional songs work ║ │ │║ even better and are more interesting than the two or three ║ │ │║ longer or experimental songs. Aria needs no orchestra, no ║ │ │║ folk instruments, no conceptual albums, no ║ │ │║ pseudo-intellectual 15-minute-prog-songs. Aria needs just ║ │ │║ to play heavy metal as heavy metal is! ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ Some people say that the new millennium has seen a kind of ║ │ │║ renaissance of the heavy metal genre with the reunions of ║ │ │║ Iron Maiden and Judas Priest, but here, the split-up sets ║ │ │║ positive energy free and is to me the most amazing ║ │ │║ contribution to the new popularity of heavy metal. No ║ │ │║ matter where you live, try to get this album legally ║ │ │║ somewhere and spread the word that there is an amazing ║ │ │║ heavy metal band in the far east that is ready to conquer ║ │ │║ the world! ║ │ │║ ║ │ │║ ║ │ │╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │╔═════════════════════╗ │ │║ Release Tracklist ║ │ │╚═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════ │ │ │ │ 1. Patriot 4:20 │ │ 2. Baptizing With Fire 6:09 │ │ 3. Colosseum 6:32 │ │ 4. The Hangman 8:42 │ │ 5. Your New World 4:07 │ │ 6. There High Above 5:40 │ │ 7. White Flag 4:44 │ │ 8. The Battle 5:05 │ │ 9. Dark Count Feast 5:59 │ │ │ │ │ │ Total Length : 00:51:18 │ │ │ │ │ │ ▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄▄ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │ ╔═════════════════════╗ │ │ ║ Greetings To: ║ │ │ ╚═════════════════════╝ │ │ │ │ Too all people who contributes to make this │ │ archive of good music in a exceptional conditions │ │ │ │ │ │ │ │■ ■│ └───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┘