Origin:	Russia
Genres:	Gothic Metal

The Aerium

The Aerium is a newish Russian band breaking into the world of metal with classically-trained operatic vocals. Nightwish has proven that power metal and operatic vocals can exist in harmony, though The Aerium is not a power metal band, but more a symphonic gothic metal band. But, for several reasons, Song For The Dead King falls a bit flat. Veronika Sevostyanova's vocals aren't really the problem -- she does possess a fine voice, though she lacks that special something that, say, Tarja Turunen possesses, and somehow her vocals seem less seemlessly integrated with the music as they should be. Elsewhere, the production is flat (no doubt due to a small budget), and the musicianship, aside from Andrey Grishin's keyboard work, is on the unadventurous side. There's potential here, and this is a young band that up to now hasn't had the budget to show what they can do, so there is hope for the future, but Dead King doesn't quite measure up.