''Kreshchenie Ognyom'' (; lit. ''Baptism by Fire'') is

Aria In music, an aria (, ; : , ; ''arias'' in common usage; diminutive form: arietta, ; : ariette; in English simply air (music), air) is a self-contained piece for one voice, with or without instrument (music), instrumental or orchestral accompan ...

's ninth studio album, the first album not to feature long-time vocalist and co-founder of the band -

Valery Kipelov Valery Alexandrovich Kipelov (Russian: Валерий Александрович Кипелов; born July 12, 1958) is a Russian musician and composer who was the vocalist and a founding member of heavy metal band Aria. Since 2002, Kipelov lea ...

. CD version of this release is enhanced and features the video for the song "Kolizey". The tracks "Kolizey", "Tam vysoko" and "Kreshchenie ognyom" had reached the top position in Russian radio charts in 2003.

Track listing

Lyric themes

*"Patriot" tells about fighting against Islamic terrorism. *"Kreshchenie ognyom" tells about pagan resistance against forced

baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

. *"Kolizey" recalls

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

's '' The Gladiator''. *"Palach" tells the story of an immortal executioner who killed insane man called God's son and his inner struggle. *"Bitva" tells a science-fiction story of an alien invasion. *"Bal u knyazya tmy" is based on ''

The Master and Margarita ''The Master and Margarita'' () is a novel by Mikhail Bulgakov, written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940. A censored version, with several chapters cut by editors, was published posthumously in ''Moscow (magazine), Moscow'' magazine in ...

'' by

Mikhail Bulgakov Mikhail Afanasyevich Bulgakov ( ; rus, links=no, Михаил Афанасьевич Булгаков, p=mʲɪxɐˈil ɐfɐˈnasʲjɪvʲɪdʑ bʊlˈɡakəf; – 10 March 1940) was a Russian and Soviet novelist and playwright. His novel ''The M ...

Personnel

Arthur Berkut Artur Vyacheslavovich Mikheev (, born 24 May 1962), better known under his stage name Arthur Berkut (Russian: Артур Беркут), is a Russian singer. Throughout his career, he has participated in numerous bands, with the most notable bein ...

- Vocals *Vitaly Dubinin - Bass * Vladimir Holstinin - Guitar *Sergey Popov - Guitar * Maxim Udalov - Drums Cover art by

Leo Hao Alexey Mikhailovich Shamrovsky () better known as Leo Hao is a Russian fantasy artist. He is famous for painting cover art and illustrations for fantasy books and metal albums. Works * numerous cover arts and wallpapers for Aria * cover arts f ...

References

2003 albums Aria (band) albums {{2000s-metal-album-stub