Aria celebrates its fortieth anniversary this year. Many veteran bands would be on auto-pilot after such a long period of uninterrupted activity, releasing a compilation album or a live release to mark the occasion. Ever since their best singer Mikhail Zhitnyakov joined the band in 2011, however, Aria has been experiencing a bit of a second youth, releasing some of the best albums of their lengthy career. ‘Korda Nastanyet Zavtra’ fits right alongside those recent late-career highlights. It is the work of a band that proves that experience doesn’t necessarily have to come at the expense of energy.

Compared to its direct predecessor ‘Proklyatiye Morey‘, ‘Korda Nastanyet Zavtra’ is a tighter and more concise listening experience. The songs are shorter on average, while the production feels a bit more focused and modern. It sounds like Aria got a shot of energy in the seven years between the two albums. It makes ‘Korda Nastanyet Zavtra’ sound notably less like latter-day Iron Maiden than its predecessor – in fact, the typical Iron Maiden soundalike moments are very limited in number to begin with. It is maybe a bit more hard rock than usual, but with songwriting this good, that isn’t an issue.

Good as all of them have been, ‘Korda Nastanyet Zavtra’ might just be the most consistent Aria album of the Zhitnyakov era. Admittedly, some of the previous albums had higher peaks, but the dips were also less engaging than they are on ‘Korda Nastanyet Zavtra’. The album has an extremely pleasant flow, although the band clearly made sure every song has something to immediately identify them by. For example: the relative brevity of the songs makes the excellent epic ‘Chërniy Kamen” stand out all the more. And there is always a strong melody or a powerful riff to elevate the songs.

An unexpected highlight is ‘Sozvezdiye Yershalaim’. It is another song inspired by Mikhail Bulgakov’s ‘The Master and Margarita’ – their fourth, if I’m not mistaking. But more importantly, it is their greatest ballad since ‘Shtil”, released almost twenty-five years ago. It is an elegant power ballad that foregoes the cheap emotional impact that style of song usually goes for, in favor of a more narrative approach. Zhitnyakov sings the song with the gravitas a musical theater actor rather than a rock star milking the sentimentality of a willing audience. The way the dramatic melodies are alternated by big riffs also just works.

‘Obgonyaya Vremya’ was another early favorite. It has the most pulsating riff work on the album, as well as some cool melodic themes, and a fantasic solo section culminating in an awesome guitar harmony. ‘Pamyat” is a classy melodic hardrocker with a fairly unique dark, dramatic vibe. The powerful single ‘Gordiyev Uzel’ is probably the most typical Aria song here, while ‘Lovets Chuzhikh Serdets’ proves that Aria’s formula works fine when combined with some modern hard rock influences as well. Closer ‘Dukh Svobodi’ is a catchy, stomping melodic rocker, while ‘Dolina Smerti’ is a gorgeous semi-epic, and one of the album’s highlights.

‘Korda Nastanyet Zavtra’ once again proves that Aria is in the best shape they have ever been in musically. It is honestly may be the most consistent album they have released since their 1987 classic ‘Geroy Asfalta’, and I don’t say that lightly. This album should serve as a lesson to many other veteran bands that just putting that little bit of extra effort into songwriting does actually pay off. After all, there aren’t many hard rock and heavy metal bands this late into their careers releasing something this good.

Recommended tracks: ‘Dolina Smerti’, ‘Sozvezdiye Yershalaim’, ‘Chërniy Kamen”