Aria (Ария) was one of Russia’s first heavy metal bands, and the very first to reach large scale commercial success in Russia. Dubbed the “Russian Iron Maiden” by the media, Aria was at peak success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Aria was formed in 1985 by Holstinin and Alik Granovsky as a side […]

Amatory (often written as [AMATORY] to match their logo; many of the band’s members also have pseudonyms that typically use brackets and all-caps) is a Russian metal group from St. Petersburg. Despite relatively little media exposure, Amatory has made a name for themselves through extensive touring in Russia, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia. The group’s […]

Vladimir Presnyakov (Владимир Пресняков) is a Russian singer from Yekaterinburg. He was exposed to music from a young age, since both of his parents were in the music industry. Presnyakov started playing around with the piano, guitar, and drums as a child, and started writing his own music when he was 11. He began singing […]

Elena Pogrebizhskaya (Елена Погребижская), is a Russian singer, documentary filmmaker, and writer. Pogrebizhskaya was born in northwest Russia but has spent most of her life in Moscow. Her musical education consisted of music school and singing in a church choir. She started out as a television journalist, but in 2001 she began to concentrate on […]

Brainstorm/ Prāta Vētra is a Latvian pop group. Originally formed in 1989, they have released a number of albums in Latvia, Russia, and internationally, singing in Latvian, Russian, and English. Renārs Kaupers (vocals), Jānis Jubalts (guitar), Gundars Mauševics (bass), Kaspars Roga (drums) and Māris Mihelsons (accordion, piano), met while still in school and started the […]