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Aria are probably tired of the Iron Maiden comparisons, but it's hard not to mention Maiden when talking about Hero of Asphalt, the band's third album, as this is probably their most Maiden-esque album. They have the signature gallop down to an art form and a lot of the guitar work could very well fit on most Maiden albums of the '80s. There are even a couple of passages that remind me a little bit of Seventh Son of a Seventh Son, which only came out the year after Hero of Asphalt. Hmmmm... hmmmm... ;)

Now, this may sound very much like Maiden, but Aria put their own into this, so it's not like it's a carbon copy. Aria are much more into soaring, powerful, catchy and very melodic vocals and that's true on this album as well. I've said it before, and I'll most likely say it for each one of their albums that I review: It's hard not to sing along to this even though it's in Russian. There's no way at least some of those melodies won't get stuck in a listener's head after just one listen (imagine me after a few dozen...) Other than that, Hero of Asphalt is basically really good '80s heavy metal with all the right ingredients. It's very upbeat and catchy and there's more than enough greatness in here for you to break out the air instruments and go nuts. Just one of many winners in the band's discography.