Orphaned Land – The Never Ending Way of Orwarrior

Releasedate: 25-01-2010; Label: Century Media
By: Lara Cappelli

Orphaned Land is an Israeli band formed in 1991 that is know to deliver a so called “Middle-Eastern Metal/Folk Music”.

Basically, what makes Orphaned Land stand out is the deep influence that their culture has on their music. They use most of the typical Arabian instruments and melodies blended with Metal Music. It has took to the band over six-hundred hours of studio working and the involvement of a huge amount of people to register “The Never Ending Way of Orwarrior” and the final result is really noteworthy. Orphaned Land cured every single detail of the album, that handles a more than wide range of sounds in which you can find Nazareth Orchestra to give a suggestive background to the music as well as Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree) who, apart from mixing the whole album, has cured and played the keyboards lines of it. Vocals are by Kobi Farhi who alternates growls to clean vocals. Additionally, Shlomit Levi appears also as a Yemenite female vocalist. As for the concept, the album is divided into three parts that deal with the religious and evocative story of the Warrior of the Light, for a total running time of over an hour.

The impact of the album might be pretty confusing as it’s full of different nuances, but it just deserves more and more listening. After a while those nuances become clearer and can be assimilated way easier. The sound of the album stays linked to all that is Metal, Death, Progressive and Folk and all these facets hardly annoys even after several listening. Therefore, I can say with no doubt that I never listened to something this fascinating, unique, multifaceted and risking at the same time.

 
Links:
Orphaned Land MySpace
Orphaned Land Official