Despite Orphaned Land's songs drawing on biblical themes, the band have said that they are not religious, with the majority of the band members identifying as atheist or agnostic,[8][9][10] and are known for their ambivalence towards organized religion, blaming it as the cause of bloodshed and hatred. Kobi Farhi claims that metal is a kind of "religion."[1]
Orphaned Land has developed a large following, "tens of thousands of fans," across the Middle East and North Africa, as well as Iran, and have been described as "ambassadors of peace" for their message of unity,[11][12] despite the heavy metal genre being considered taboo in, and with Israel being considered an enemy of many of these countries. In the Arab world, metal music is part of the underground - Orphaned Land once toured in Europe with a Jordanian band who wasn't allowed to play in their home country. In 2013, Orphaned Land toured Europe with the Palestinian band Khalas which Farhi claims proved that Jewish-Muslimcoexistence is possible. The two bands would issue a split album with each other in 2021, entitled "The Peace Series Vol 1." The only Islamic country in which the band has played is Turkey; however, they were invited to play Dubai, but the show was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They have played in Turkey over 25 times[13] which Muslim fans all over the world would attend, especially those from the Middle East, Iran, and Morocco.[1] Orphaned Land is also known for having a large Haredi following, as well.[citation needed]
At the start of the band's formation, they played "regular" death metal under the name "Resurrection," with the goal to sound like At the Gates, Morbid Angel, Death, Deicide, and other similar sounding bands, and sang about topics like "death from radiation decay."[14][15][16][17] They quickly realized, however, that they are "from a different place, a place with different temperature, culture, and colours, that is also the source of all the monotheistic beliefs," as explained by frontmanKobi Farhi. The band chose to write music that better projected this, incorporating middle eastern melodies and folk rhythms into their sound. In 1992, they changed their name to "Orphaned Land," believing that this name better suits their newer, more melodic style, which they dubbed oriental metal.[6][14][16][17] This new style fused melodic death metal and melodic death-doom with elements of progressive metal, incorporating Middle Eastern and North African musical traditions as well as those of Mizrahi and Maghrebi Jewish, and Arabic origin, which has been described as a kind of early folk metal.
Sahara, El Norra Alila, and hiatus (1993-2001)
In 1993, Orphaned Land released their demoThe Beloved's Cry, and in 1994, they released their first album Sahara, in which the band reworked four of the demo's six songs and wrote four new ones.
In 1996, they released their second album El Norra Alila, their first concept album, in which they amplified the "oriental" elements. The name of the album is based on the piyyut of the same name, which is recited during Yom Kippur as a plea of forgiveness, but also acts as a play on words using both Hebrew and Arabic, and can be translated as "God of Light, Evil of the Night," referring to the album's concept. The album also includes traditional Mizrahi piyyutim as songs, as well as sporadic use of Jewish liturgy, with heavier emphasis on Arabic melodies from their previous release. It explored the themes of light and darkness, conveying the message of commonality between the three main Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity).[18] This is a theme they would continue to use throughout their next three concept albums, as well.
Uri Zelcha - bassist
After the release of El Norra Alila in 1996, Orphaned Land went into "this unknown hiatus,"[16] during which "nothing happened." However, in 2001, Farhi received an email from a Jordanian fan who sent him a video of himself revealing a tattoo of the Orphaned Land logo on his arm. Farhi, who was "shocked" by this, given the geopolitical circumstances, considers this the motivating factor to get the band back together, and began recording their next album. They played several shows in Tel Aviv and one in Turkey, their first show abroad.[16] The Jordanian fan who sent Farhi the video came to the show in Turkey, where he brought an Arabic book written by an EgyptianSheikh about Satanism. The book, which detailed how to avoid Satanic groups in Egypt, displayed the lyrics to an Orphaned Land song that contains verses from the Quran. When asked for elaboration by Farhi, the fan explained how the police raided an Egyptian metalhead's house and discovered a CD with this song on it; the Egyptian fan was sent to prison for six months as this was enough to charge him of blasphemy.
Mabool (2002-2009)
The band's third album, Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven was released in 2004, and was the band's second concept album. ""Mabool" (מבול) is the Hebrew word for "flood," and refers to the Genesis flood narrative from which the album's concept, the band's reinterpretation of Noah's Ark, is derived. It tells the story of three sons (one for each Abrahamic religion) who try to warn humanity of a flood coming as punishment for their sins. The album retains the "oriental" instruments from their previous two albums, and also includes two choruses, traditional Yemenite Jewish chants sung by Shlomit Levi, and quotes of biblical verses from chapters 6–9 in Genesis, read by Kobi Farhi.[1] In 2005, after Mabool, Orphaned Land released the EP, Ararat, named after Mount Ararat where Noah's Ark landed, which contains two demos of songs Mabool, and one reworked track from it, as well as a cover of the song "Mercy" from Paradise Lost. The band describes their first two concept albums as "a meeting of East and West, past and present, light and darkness, and a tango between God and Satan.[19]
In January, 2010, Orphaned Land released the follow-up to Mabool, and their fourth album, entitled The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR. In Hebrew, the word "or" (אור) means "light," thus ORwarriOR can be translated as "light warrior" or "warrior of light," and is the band's third concept album. Like El Norra Alila, ORwarriOR explores themes light and darkness; this time the album is about the battle between the darkness, a place of questions, and the light, a place of answers. The album has a different sound than Mabool, was produced and mixed by Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree, and made free to download for any fan who lives in a "number of" MENA countries.[1][21] The first single from the CD was titled "Sapari" and was put on Myspace with two other tracks, "Vayehi OR" and "Disciples of the Sacred Oath II," a sequel to a song from the deluxe edition of El Norra Alila. In early 2011, ORWarriOR was rated the Metal Storm number one progressive metal album of 2010 by users with 421/1130 total votes.[22]
On June 19, 2011, Orphaned Land performed at the French Metal Festival Hellfest held in Clisson. Orphaned Land is known to employ belly dancers at their shows, however for this show, Lebanese belly dancer Johanna Fakhry reached out to Orphaned Land and requested to perform with the band there. While Kobi Farhi agreed to this request, he warned her that it could be dangerous for her. Fakhri decided to join them on stage anyway. At this performance, Farhi and Fakhry held up the Israeli and Lebanese flags side-by-side at the end of the concert as a gesture of peace. After word in Lebanon spread about this performance, Fakhry's parents expressed outrage towards her for this action, she was ridiculed online by Arab communities, and Hezbollah issued a death warrant to her. Fakhry has not returned to Lebanon since then, and has remained in France. According to Farhi, Orphaned Land has invited her to shows in Israel, but she has rejected the offers out of respect for her parents' wishes.[23][1][24]
In 2011, Orphaned Land played two concerts in Israel to celebrate their 20th anniversary. On October 24, the band released a live music and video album entitled The Road to Or-Shalem featuring recordings of this concert to celebrate their milestone.[25]
On June 11, 2012, guitarist Matty Svatitzky announced his departure from the band, citing personal issues. Matti Svatitzky was replaced by Chen Balbus, a young musician who was had performed live with them, previously.
Orphaned Land released their fifth album, entitled All is One, on June 24, 2013. This album featured a shift in sound for Orphaned Land, who took a lusher, more symphonic approach to the album than their previous releases, and who experienced a line-up change beforehand. Despite its optimistic title, the band considers it their darkest album thematically; albeit, musically it is their most accessible, least progressive, and lightest album, being nearly devoid of death metal influence. Farhi provided very few death growls on this album,[26] and the highly acclaimed Israeli-Arab singer, Mira Awad, provided female vocals for it.
Orphaned Land won the Metal Hammer award for "Global Metal Band of the Year 2014".[28] The band also released a new music video for the track "Let the Truce Be Known," directed by Vadim Machona.[29]
Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs (2017-present)
In 2017, former Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett contacted Farhi, in his search for artists that work for peace between people, and asked him to perform in a song about peace. The two sides immediately clicked and started collaborating. Together with Mira Awad, Farhi sings in the song "West to East" on Hackett's album, The Night Siren. According to Farhi, Hackett offered to either play a guitar solo on an Orpahend Land album or to pay Farhi directly for his performance, and Farhi chose the guitar solo. Hackett appears on the song Chains Fall to Gravity[30] from their upcoming album.
Idan Amsalem - guitarist
On January 26, 2018, Orphaned Land released their sixth album, entitled Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs,[31] and is the band's fourth concept album. Once again utilizing the concepts of light and darkness to convey their message, the album is based around Plato'sAllegory of the cave to explain how humanity embraces the darkness and are afraid to break their chains and embrace the light. Farhi considers it to be their "protest album".[32] For Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs, Orphaned Land wanted to combine the accessible, "upfront" sound of All Is One with the conceptual and progressive sound of Mabool and ORwarriOR, believing that would lead to the creation of "the best Orphaned Land album".[33]
In September 2018, Orphaned Land won the 'Video Of The Year' award at the Progressive Music Awards 2018 in London, for their video, Like Orpheus.[34] The music video is based on a true story about a Muslim girl who used to attend metal shows in Israel. A photo taken of her in a hijab with the lead singer of Behemoth in his corpse paint went viral, after which her parents forbade her from associating with the "metal world." The music video depicts a Haredi man and a Muslim woman attending a Kreator concert at night, while hiding their association with the metal community from their families.[1]
In June 2021, Orphaned Land celebrated their 30th anniversary by playing a concert at the prestigious Heichal HaTarbut, the largest concert hall in Israel. Backed by the 45-piece Israel Chamber Opera Orchestra and Noa Gruman's Hellscore Choir, they are the first Israeli metal band to ever play a concert there. The show was attended by 2,400 people[1] despite restrictions from the COVID-19 pandemic. The show was livestreamed, and thus the band had footage of the whole concert. On December 1, 2023, the show was released as a music and video album, named A Heaven You May Create.[13] On December 10, 2021, the band released a box set containing all six of their solo studio albums, and the bonus songs from them, entitled 30 Years of Oriental Metal - Anniversary Album Collection, in tribute to their 30th anniversary.[35]
A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Sometimes the term is applied to albums considered to be of "uniform excellence" rather than an LP with an explicit musical or lyrical motif. There is no consensus among music critics as to the specific criteria for what a "concept album" is.
Progressive metal is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral or quasi-classical compositions of the latter.
Folk metal is a fusion genre of heavy metal music and traditional folk music that developed in Europe during the 1990s. It is characterised by the widespread use of folk instruments and, to a lesser extent, traditional singing styles. It also sometimes features soft instrumentation influenced by folk rock.
Kittie is a Canadian heavy metal band from London, Ontario, formed in 1996 by lead guitarist Fallon Bowman and the Lander sisters, drummer Mercedes and lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Morgan. Tanya Candler completed the band's early line-up on bass. The Lander sisters have remained the band's sole constant members. Collectively, their material released via independent record labels has sold over two million copies worldwide.
Salem is an Israeli extreme metal band, pioneers of the oriental metal movement and of the Israeli heavy metal scene in general. Much of their lyrics and music deals with political issues concerning the Jewish people and Israel, most notably the concept albums Kaddish (1994) and Collective Demise (2002).
Mastodon is an American heavy metal band from Atlanta, Georgia. Formed in 2000, the band's lineup of Troy Sanders (bass/vocals), Brent Hinds, Bill Kelliher and Brann Dailor (drums/vocals) has remained unchanged since 2001. Mastodon has released eight studio albums, as well as a number of other releases. The band's 2002 debut album, Remission, garnered significant critical acclaim for its unique sound. Mastodon's second full-length release, Leviathan, is a concept album based on the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville. Three magazines awarded the record "Album of the Year" in 2004: Revolver, Kerrang! and Terrorizer.
Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven is the third full-length studio album by the Israeli metal band Orphaned Land. It was released on February 23, 2004 through Century Media Records. One limited edition version of the album has a bonus CD entitled The Calm Before the Flood containing live acoustic tracks, while another limited edition version was released by Profound Lore Records as a 2-LP album with alternate cover art in a clear wax case limited to only 500 copies. Two videos were made for the album, one for the song "Ocean Land" and the other for the song "Norra el Norra", and were the band's first music videos. Mabool is Orphaned Land's second concept album. "Mabool" (מבול) is the Hebrew word for "flood," and refers to the Genesis flood narrative from which the album's concept, the band's reinterpretation of Noah's Ark, is derived.
Kobi Farhi is an Israeli musician, lead singer and founder of Oriental metal band Orphaned Land.
Sabaton is a Swedish power metal band from Falun. The band was formed in 1999 by lead singer Joakim Brodén, bassist Pär Sundström, guitarists Oskar Montelius and Rikard Sundén, and drummer Richard Larsson, but has gone through multiple lineup changes with Brodén and Sundström remaining the only consistent members. The vast majority of their songs are about historical events, mainly wars and significant battles. Sabaton is considered one of the "big four" power metal bands along with Blind Guardian, DragonForce and Helloween, though the band describe their music as a form of heavy metal.
Sahara is the first full-length studio album by the Israeli metal band Orphaned Land, released on November 25, 1994 by French label Holy Records. The 2002 digipak re-release of the album features three bonus tracks: "Above You All", "Pits of Despair" and "The Beloved's Cry " and edited cover art. The songs "Seasons Unite", "The Beloveds Cry", "My Requiem", "Orphaned Land – The Storm Still Rages Inside..." are all from the demo The Beloved's Cry.
El Norra Alila is the second full-length studio album by the Israeli metal band Orphaned Land, released on July 18, 1996 by Holy Records. It is the band's first concept album. The album was reissued as a deluxe edition in July 2006 as a 10-year-anniversary for the album and contains extras; the song "Disciples of the Sacred Oath" and video clips of "Ornaments of Gold" and "The Evil Urge".
The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR is the fourth full-length studio album by the Israeli metal band Orphaned Land. The album was released on January 25, 2010, after many delays. In Hebrew, the word "or" (אור) means "light," thus ORwarriOR can be translated as "light warrior" or "warrior of light", representing a conceptual hero of the battle of light versus darkness. The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR is Orphaned Land's third concept album and is about the battle between the darkness, a place of questions, and the light, a place of answers. The band related the concept to lighting a match in a dark room; without the match one cannot see anything, but with it one can see more, including the answers to the questions one has about the room before having lit the match. In this regard, "the warrior of light," the answers to unknown questions, is one's inner light, and not some messianic figure, and that to awaken the ORwarriOR, one must use their inner light to enlighten their inner soul, and find the answers they seek. This is an analogy to the band's belief that "there isn't any difference between you and your enemy." The album was mixed by Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree. It is the last album to feature guitarist Matti Svatizky who left the band in 2012.
Amaseffer is an Israeli progressive metal band which was formed in 2004 in Tel Aviv by drummer and percussionist Erez Yohanan, and guitarist Yuval Kramer. A year later, a second guitarist Hanan Avramovich joined and completed the line-up. This is also when the band got its name "Amaseffer" - from Hebrew "Am Ha'Sefer" - People of the (holy) book; a name from the Old Testament for the Israelites and later for the Jewish People. The band's music genre is considered progressive metal, but it contains a mixture of rock, metal, world music and Middle Eastern touches.
The Arab Orchestra of Nazareth is an Israeli orchestra that plays Arab and Mediterranean music. It was founded in 1991 by conductor and musicologist Suhil Radwan.
Slaves for Life is the debut album by Israeli folk/progressive metal band Amaseffer, released on 6 June 2008 in Israel and 24 June 2008 worldwide, by InsideOut Music.
Eternal Gray was a technical death metal band originating from Tel Aviv, Israel. The band was known as one of the most respected bands in the Israeli heavy metal scene, and has gathered very positive feedback abroad. On December 22, 2012, after 11 years of activity, band leader Dory Bar-Or announced that he has decided to put the band to an end.
Yossi Sassi is an Israeli guitarist and producer who merges traditional and contemporary music. He is the inventor of the "bouzoukitara" musical instrument. He is known for pioneering oriental rock, as well as being the main composer, arranger, and co-founder of Orphaned Land, an Israeli progressive metal band formed in 1991. He also formed the Yossi Sassi Band/The Oriental Rock Orchestra. His debut solo album, Melting Clocks, got him voted "Top Newcomer of 2012" by Rock Hard magazine readers. His 2016 album Roots and Roads was submitted for Grammy Award consideration.
All Is One is the fifth album by the Israeli oriental metal band, Orphaned Land, which was released on June 24, 2013. It is the first album to feature guitarist Chen Balbus who replaced the co-founding member and guitarist Matti Svatitzky in 2012. It is also the last album to feature the co founding member and guitarist Yossi Sassi who left the band in 2014.
The Night Siren is the twenty-fourth studio album from English guitarist and singer-songwriter Steve Hackett, released on 24 March 2017 by Inside Out Music.
Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs is the sixth studio album by the Israeli oriental metal band, Orphaned Land, and was released on January 26, 2018. It is the first album to feature guitarist Idan Amsalem who replaced multi-instrumentalist and lead guitarist, Yossi Sassi, a founding member of the band, in 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
