Orphaned Land, The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR

I fell in love with Orphaned Land after seeing them live and I’ve been pretty much obsessed with them ever since. The oriental vibe might put a lot of people off, especially in a country where the epitome of bad taste is genre that draws its roots from Turkish and Balkanic music, but I like the combination between metal and oriental music and Orphaned Land pull it off perfectly (especially since it’s actually a part of their culture and identity and they aren’t just doing it because it sounds cool).

Sapari is EXTREMELY catchy, I simply can’t stop listening to it and it’s one those songs that makes you move, headbang, tap, dance, anything but stay still. Shlomit Levi has a very interesting voice and her presence is always welcomed in Orphaned Land songs. My favourite part is the bridge in English, I had it on repeat for ages. Fortunately, it’s nothing like the rest of the album. It’s a pretty jolly song, but I wouldn’t give up the marvel that their prog-death-folk mix is for anything in the world.

Even though Orphaned Land seem to be giving up grunts more and more each album, the first half of From broken vessels is dominated by grunts and a darker sound and I love it. The mix between the warm clean voice and the harsh clear grunts is great and Kobi is an excellent singer. I’m completely in love with his voice and versatility.

Bereft in the abyss is beautiful, this is what I love about this band, how musical and full of emotion their songs are. There is so much meaning and depth in the middle of such simplicity and everything flows and makes you feel and dream…

The same can be said about the first part of The Path and I’m fascinated with how it grows and the instrumental becomes more burdening and the vocals turn into grunts and the drumming is faster and there’s that red wire that goes throughout both parts and no matter how much they play around, they keep coming back to it. 

And after a song that’s more metal then folk, of course comes a song more folk then metal (Olat Ha’tamid). I always appreciated bands that take music from their country and incorporate it into an already established genre (even if they’re not necessarily a folk band) and especially those that sing in their native language, no matter how many potential fans that might cost them. In fact, that’s one of the things I like about Orphaned Land, that they’re clearly proud of their culture and don’t seem to be using it only as a gimmick to draw more attention.

The warrior is again beautiful, Orphaned Land seem very genuine and put a lot of soul in their music and for me that means more than original chord progressions and orchestras and hitting high notes. I appreciate those too, but this is a music that you feel, not analyse (which is not to say that it’s mediocre musically, just that its main strength is somewhere else).

His leaf shall not wither sounds more like a reprise then an actual song, but it’s pretty.

Disciples of the sacred oath has those grunts I really love again. I’m not usually a fan of growling and especially not when they dominate a band’s sound (the occasions where too much growling doesn’t become monotonous are very very rare in my book), but Orphaned Land use them perfectly. Just enough to change the pace and condiment the song, but not so much that they become boring. I love the violins in the back as well and the speaking and how melodious and grabbing the main line is and the changes of pace and I am completely in love with the “lay down your sword” and “Land. Faith. Revenge” parts. I’m also completely in love with how different those parts can be and yet they are part of the same song and it still sounds coherent and the transitions feel natural. It’s a very memorable track, I found myself singing parts of it for days to come after first listening to it.

New Jerusalem is another sad and longing melody that anoints your soul, a message of love and peace, in good Orphaned Land tradition. I love the calmness and sensitivity of this song and Shlomit’s vocals between verses simply break your heart. When you think of everything this people has gone through, you can almost feel their pain and you can feel once more how genuine they are in expressing themselves and how dedicated they are to their message of peace.

Vayehi or is another good song, but I don’t find anything worth mentioning about it. There’s singing in Hebrew, speaking on top of the instrumental… the regular.

After a more “lively” song (as lively as Orphaned Land can be when they’re not singing Sapari), M I 1 2 comes back to the melancholy and gentleness that make me love this band. No matter how simple it is musically, there is so much sorrow in it that I can’t be anything but touched by it.

I like how the songs keep alternating, after a ballad comes a more aggressive song, then another ballad, then another heavy song… Barakah is one of the heavier ones, of course, but it still has those melodic choirs that break the rhythm and calm the grunts. I love the instrumental in the beginning, especially the violins, I love how there’s ALWAYS a traditional motif in every song of theirs, though always taking a different form and I love how I can’t stop tapping my foot and my head to it.

Codeword: Uprising is one of the most memorable songs of the albums, even if it’s shorter than the other “epics”. The part where the chorus grows and explodes into the “a holy fire burns in your mind” is to die for. I keep coming back to replay it, I think it’s my favourite moment of the whole album, if not of their whole discography. It’s just perfect! The fast grunts on top of that very present and yet minimalistic bass and then coming back to the same choir, this time completed with grunts on top… ah love!!!

In thy never ending way could almost pass for a positive song, but there’s still that tint of sadness that defines Orphaned Land’s music. It’s a lovely song, though and that piano at the end is just beautiful, a bittersweet ending for a bittersweet album.