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Unsung Prophets And Dead Messiahs
"The global metal community has claimed the world, even reaching places where war and conflict is dividing people and where sometimes the only hope people have is in the harmony and power of music to unite them. One metal band using their music to advocate for an end to bloodshed and to create a peaceful co-existence with other cultures and religions is Israel’s Orphaned Land.
In their 26 year career Orphaned Land have been recognized for their humanitarian work but their most notable achievement to date is the way the band fuses heavy metal with traditional Middle Eastern music creating their own sub-genre known as “oriental metal”. Its appeal is far reaching as the band sings primarily in English and tour relentlessly around the globe. In 2014 guitarist and co-founder Yossi Sassi announced he would be leaving the band to pursue his solo career and for many fans this news came as a big surprise as Yossi’s guitar work was a core part of Orphaned Land’s sound and style. This however didn’t stop the rest of the band from pushing forward to create new music with Chen Balbus taking lead guitar roles and Idan Amsalem joining as rhythm guitarist.
This year the band announced they would be releasing a new album in early 2018 titled ‘Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs’; singer and lyricist Kobi Farhi was inspired by Plato’s famous philosophy text “The Allegory of the Cave” drawing parallels to the way 21st century media and government are attempting to brainwash us and how current man’s inhumanity to man counterparts the slaves in the cave who love their slavery and refuse to see the light. The album also features some very prominent guests including the renowned ex Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, vocalist and bassist of Blind Guardian Hansi Kürsch and front man of At The Gates, Tomas Lindberg.
‘Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs’ opens up with a hypnotic and energetic composition “The Cave”, Plato’s writings do find themselves in the lyrics but Kobi interprets them and makes them his own putting them in a contemporary context. “We Do Not Resist” continues the theme of how the media is not telling us the true cost of war and instead sells us lies and gossip, Kobi’s growls are at full effect and channel the anger that is needed for the subject matter to cut through whilst the band wrathfully backs him up with pure metallic rage.
“In Propaganda” charms the listener with the seductive Saz and Bouzouki guitars and an orchestra highlighting the band’s very skilled musicianship blending metal with Arabic folk music. Orphaned Land are a band who know how to get the balance right between heavy and light music and demonstrate this well on “All Knowing Eye” and on “Yedidi” where Kobi sings in his native tongue. Even progressive rock legends such as Steven Wilson and now Steve Hackett have recognised the sophistication Orphaned Land brings to their song writing. This is evident on “Chains Fall To Gravity” an oriental prog anthem with special guest Hackett tearing up a fine guitar solo and the band weaving in their oriental magic and excellent musicianship.
“Like Orpheus” is one for the metal fan at heart, featuring Hansi Kürsch, the power metal singer’s vocals soar high above the chorus making the song even more majestic and epic. “Poets Of Prophetic Messianism” is a beautiful instrumental with a choir in the background and the native instruments taking a lead role. “Left Behind” hits you straight away with spell binding oriental strings and proceeds with a chunky metal riff, It’s one of those wonderful pieces of music that urges you to dance and gets you locked into the heavy guitar groove, it’s so well crafted it demands multiple listens. “My Brothers Keeper” acknowledges the dead messiahs that failed throughout the history of mankind, the revolutionaries who have lost their lives to empower their fellow human beings. The music takes the listener into shades of darkness and light and once again brings out the best in Orphaned Land’s songwriting. The band has creatively employed samples of swords, sirens and speeches about war and the nature of power to great effect especially in the intro of “Take My Hand”.
“Only The Dead Have Seen The End Of War” returns to the death metal roots of the band’s earlier albums and features Tomas Lindberg’s dirty growling. “The Manifest – Epilogue” concludes the album with a mesmerizing guitar solo and ending with a sample of George Orwell’s Final Warning “ If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stomping on a human face forever, the moral to be drawn from this dangerous nightmare situation is a simple one, don’t let it happen”.
‘Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs’ is an album that truly opens up a dialogue about the way we should treat each other and to stop repeating the same mistakes over and over again. Orphaned Land not only are strikingly prophetic, they bring music that has such sophistication that you can’t help but feel joy, happiness, anger and rage all at the same time. It’s a remarkable album and one that will open 2018 with a loud subversive bang." - Metal Wani