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Orphaned Land

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Orphaned Land
Orphaned Land performing at Wacken Open Air in August 2010
Orphaned Land performing at Wacken Open Air in August 2010
Background information
Also known asResurrection
OriginPetah Tikva, Israel
GenresFolk metal, Oriental metal, progressive metal, death/doom
Years active1991–present
LabelsCentury Media
MembersKobi Farhi
Uri Zelcha
Yossi Sa'aron Sassi
Matan Shmuely
Chen Balbus
Past membersMatti Svatizky
Sami Bachar
Itzik Levy
Eran Asias
Eden Rabin
Avi Diamond
Yatziv Caspi
Websitewww.orphaned-land.com

Orphaned Land is an Israeli progressive metal band, formed in 1991, that combines Jewish and Arabian influences.

History

In 1992, the band changed its name from the original Resurrection[1] to Orphaned Land. Orphaned Land fuse progressive, doom, and death metal as well as Middle-Eastern folk music and Arabic traditions in a form of Oriental metal. Each album has some concept related to two extremes: a meeting of East and West, past and present, light and darkness, and God and Satan.[2]

The band’s first album was Sahara (1994) which was originally released as a demo. The second album, El Norra Alila (1996), had many Eastern/Oriental influences, such as "El Norra Alila" ("Illustrious God"), based on a poem sung during Yom Kippur as a plea of forgiveness. It also included songs with traditional oriental Jewish piyyut and Arabic melodies. The album explored the themes of light and darkness, as well as conveying the message of commonality between the three main Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Islam, and Christianity).[3]

The third album, Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven (the Hebrew name for the Deluge, depicted in the Bible and Noah's story), released in 2004, was seven years in the making. 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. Musically, the album contains oriental instruments, two choruses, traditional Yemenite chants sung by Shlomit Levi, and quotes of biblical verses from the story of the deluge, read by vocalist Kobi Farhi. After Mabool, Orphaned Land released an EP, Ararat (2005) named after Mount Ararat. Despite their songs drawing on biblical themes, the band have said that they are not religious.[4]

On January, 2010, Orphaned Land released the follow-up to Mabool, entitled The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR. ORWarriOR means "Warrior of Light", and the concept is the battle between light and darkness. The album has a different sound than Mabool, and was mixed by Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree.[5] 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". In early 2011, ORWarriOR was rated the Metal Storm number one progressive metal album of 2010 by users with 421/1130 total votes.[6]

In 2008, Orphaned Land was featured in the documentary Global Metal, a film by the creators of Metal: A Headbanger's Journey.[7]

On May 22, 2010, Orphaned Land performed as the opening act to Metallica's show in Israel. Following this, the band went on a festival tour in the summer of 2010, promoting their latest album, The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR, with appearances at such festivals as Wacken Open Air, Summer Breeze Open Air, Sonisphere Festival, Gods of Metal, Rock Hard Festival and more. After the summer festival tour, the band will go on a North American tour in support of Katatonia, along with Swallow the Sun. This will be followed by a tour of Europe supporting Amorphis along with Ghost Brigade.

They performed on June 19, 2011, at the French Metal Festival Hellfest held in Clisson, near Nantes. In February 2011, they performed at the Riviera cultural festival at VIT University, Vellore, India. And in February 2012, they performed at the festival Alcheringa at Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT), India.

On June 11, 2012, guitarist Matty Svatitzky announced his departure from the band, due to personal issues. Matti Svatitzky was replaced by Chen Balbus, who was Yossi Sassi's guitar student, and replacement guitar player for some live shows, before he turned to be an official member.

Orphaned Land is currently working on the band's fifth album, to be released in mid-2013. Shlomit Levy won't perform on this album. Also in 2012 there was an online petition for Orphaned Land to be awarded a Nobel Prize for their commitment to allowing the Arab World to listen to their music despite bans on such a thing from Arab League countries.

Discography

Demos

  • The Beloved's Cry (1993)

EPs

  • The Calm Before the Flood (2004)
  • Promo Split MCD (2005) – (with Sentenced)
  • Ararat (2005)

Studio albums

Videography

  • The Road to OR-Shalem (2011)[9]
Music videos
  • "Ocean Land" (2004) – Mabool
  • "Norra El Norra" (2004) – Mabool
  • "Sapari" (2010) – The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR
Documentaries
  • "A Heaven You May Create" – The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR Limited Edition DVD (2010)
  • "Vayehi Or: 20 Years of Journey" – The Road to OR-Shalem DVD bonus (2011)

Band members

Current members
  • Kobi Farhi – leading chants, growls, narrations, choir & backing vocals (1991–present)
  • Uri Zelcha – electric, acoustic & fretless bass (1991–present)
  • Yossi Sassi – lead electric & acoustic guitars, oud, saz, bouzouki, chumbush, piano, backing vocals (1991–present)
  • Matan Shmuely – drums, percussion (2007–present)
  • Chen Balbus – electric, acoustic guitars & bouzouki, backing vocals, piano, xylophone (2012–present)
Former members
  • Matti Svatitzki – rhythm electric & acoustic guitars (1991–2012)
  • Sami Bachar – drums, percussion (1991–2000)
  • Itzik Levy – keyboards, piano (1991–1996)
  • Eran Asias – drums, percussion (2000–2004)
  • Eden Rabin – keyboards, backing vocals (2001–2005)
  • Avi Diamond – drums, percussion (2004–2007)
  • Yatziv Caspi – percussion (2004–2007)
Former touring members
  • Steven Wilson – keyboards (2010)
  • Shlomit Levi – female vocals (2004–2012 )

References

  1. ^ "ORPHANED LAND MusicMight".
  2. ^ "Welcome to the Ark of Orphaned Land".
  3. ^ "Concept -> The Concept of El Norra Alila".
  4. ^ "Interview: Matti Svatizky, Orphaned Land".
  5. ^ "Encyclopaedia Metallum – Orphaned Land".
  6. ^ "Metal Storm Awards 2010 Progressive Metal". www.metalstorm.net. Retrieved 2011-04-16.
  7. ^ "Orphaned Land – New Album on the Way: News @ metalstorm.ee".
  8. ^ "ORPHANED LAND Putting Finishing Touches On New Album: News @ BLABBERMOUTH.NET".
  9. ^ Orphaned Land – DVD Tracklist and Cover Revealed
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