Regarding Epidemia, I disagree. Firstly, they've been around for over 10 years, and secondly, their songs are more like fairy tales. Aria has more serious themes, although I haven't listened to all of Epidemia's songs, so maybe they have some non-fairy tale tracks. Besides, there are many other quite "old" bands that still release albums and so on. There aren't as many newcomers as before, but it's a different time now...
P.S. My favorite bands are Therion, Iron Maiden, and probably Aria.