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25 of 25 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I've been waiting for something like this for a while., November 25, 2004
Epic/Progressive/Folk-Inspired/Neo-Classical Death Metal with the perfect, extremely unique blend of heavy guitars, traditional middle-eastern instruments, clean singing, calm instrumentals, death growls, female vocals, choirs and chants, and a tinge of technicality - there is even some singing in Hebrew. I'd agree with anyone who says you simply can't put a label on something like this, it is just music. Ethnic Metal? That seems fitting. Additional instruments include piano, keyboard, cello and violin. This album probably reminds me mostly of Symphony X's "V," because of that album's Egyptian themes, except this has death growls and is less cheesy. This album really doesn't contain much death growls at all, which is perfect - I really wouldn't be surprised if they totally abandon them on their next album or maybe two albums from now (I'm actually expecting it) and it would be a logical and natural progression. Of course, they certainly don't ruin this album or anything. I've never heard any of their other albums and unfortunately they seem a little hard to find.
The album flows beautifully from one song to the next, with very good transitions from soft to heavy parts that some bands don't accomplish very well. The best part is when there is heavy guitar riffing and the folk instruments (I wish I actually knew what they were called) atop it with either vocal type, they really don't keep alternating between this in the songs too much, and when they do, it is very smooth The CD clocks in at 68 minutes, and I really don't understand when people complain that that kind of length is too much. It is only too long if it starts getting repetitive, which this album definitely doesn't do. I mean, there are 20-minute recordings that can be "too long" because they ran out of ideas. With Orphaned Land, the ideas and great musicianship never dry up and it's certainly not pretentious or over-the-top.
When some people find out Religion is the lyrical theme they get totally repelled and automatically hate the band. That really shouldn't be the case, it is more of a story that involves religion and is put together nicely, not preaching to the listener, and even if they were preaching, the music is so good I wouldn't care. Lyrics never mattered to me that much as long as they aren't ridiculously silly, and if they happen to be good, it's an extra bonus. Some of this is sung in Hebrew which I already mentioned, which definitely adds to the theme and provides an interesting touch.
The album starts out with "Birth of the Three," with a nice powerful riff, quickly adding death growls and traditional folk instruments. It turns out to have a good combination of all the vocals, occasional piano, and nice rhythm changes, and at the end there is an angelic choir singing with melodic heavy riffing in the back... probably the first time I've heard that in any music. "Ocean Land" is one of the best songs, it starts out with fast-paced strumming, I think it's a sitar, and then suddenly goes into the main song, contains excellent clean vocals in the "chorus," a little more choir vocals, and a perfect blend of heaviness with death vocals and a pretty nice solo. "The Kiss of Babylon" starts out with some of the heaviest material on here, and suddenly adds some more female choir vocals - so outrageous but it sounds perfect. Near the middle of this song, they abandon lyrics and just sing "Na na na na na na na" instead. It's not horrible, but they do it for a little too long for my tastes. Then there is a lone female vocalist singing in Hebrew, who has a gorgeous voice, but this also goes on for just a tad too long. Then begins the next song, "A'salk" which just has the folk instruments and also ethnic tribal hand-drums with the same vocals; it's a short song that brings a nice refreshing direction to the album and foreshadows a series of a few songs like this.
"Halo Dies" is heavy again, using a traditional instrument that sounds a little different at the beginning, then containing some of the most aggressive vocals for a while, before breaking down into a little keyboard and acoustic section then containing some of the best metal riffs in the CD. "A Call to Awake" isn't too much different from the heavier tracks, but then "Building the Ark" suddenly begins with some ethnic hand-drums, acoustic instruments, and male + female chanting type vocals and continues this way, it's a beautiful, encompassing track with great atmosphere. The next song "Norra el Norra" has some excellent male singing in Hebrew, and is one of the calmer tracks with distorted guitar, containing a great mixture of heavy and soft. Near the end a brilliant mini-piano concerto is added to the upbeat strumming in the background. "The Calm Before the Flood" is the album's calm breath of air with slow acoustic playing and strings, very lonely and eerily troubling. The band is knows how to make tracks like this just as well as heavy tracks, it truly sounds like the calm before the flood. At the end, the sound of rain quickly arrives, transitioning into the title track which adds some thunder and truly apprehensive sounding fast-paced strings, slowly adding the guitars, turning out to be another quality metal track. This turns right into "The Storm Still Rages Inside," the longest song. A good chunk of it is a metal instrumental with a long, winding solo, finally ending with a few female choir vocals and the sounds of water. But there is still more, after the flood is a "Rainbow", a calm, simple acoustic track with the sounds of birds chirping. It might seem like this drags on too long from my explanation, but I don't think it does, it seems like a good length.
All in all, this is one of the most unique, diverse and excellent metal albums I've ever heard, and will be in anyone's collection; it's one of my very top purchases of 2004. I really have no other bands to compare it to besides that Symphony X album which is kind of a stretch, so if you like your metal unique and thought-provoking, this is for you.
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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven, June 28, 2004
Lots of bands have incorportated Middle Eastern melodies in their music over the last three decades, but it is certainly a lot more intriguing when a band from that specific region (Israel) uses motifs from its own culture and envelopes a broader musical spectrum. Enter Orphaned Land who released two other albums in the mid-90's neither of which was as progressive and interesting as their new one Mabool.After an 8-year long break, Orphaned Land is back with their finest disc to date. I was sceptical about buying this album but when quite a few friends of mine whose recommendation I always care for praised it to no end and since Orphaned Land is going to play on a festival here in Istanbul next week opening for Pain of Salvation I decided to give them a chance... I'm glad I did. It's one of the better albums of year so far and the best thing Century Media has released in 2004. While listening to Mabool, I am reminded of three bands in particular. The first one is Opeth circa Morningrise. The way they're using the twin guitars and somewhat blackish death growls is quite reminiscent of the Swedish prog-death act. Then there is Nile for their technical side and Middle Eastern elements in their music. Last but not least there is Mezarkabul, a great band from Turkey with accented Middle Eastern melodies. Although Orphaned Land is no where near as progressive as Opeth; as heavy as Nile or as traditional sounding as Mezarkabul, they certainly share some common characteristics with these bands. On the other hand they also have their own unique edge to them and they're almost addictive in this sense. I've also heard people comparing them to Pain of Salvation but I don't necessarily hear it myself. Then it's all subjective opinion; you may as well think that my comparisons are off quite a bit. Mabool is a concept album and memans "The Flood". It is inspired by the biblical flood story of Noah and the Ark but represents the band's views on what's going on in the Middle East. The story is about three heroes who share the same soul on a spiritual level. The soul is divided into three human beings: one Jew, one Christian and one Muslim. When they unite, they realise that a flood is going to come and cover the Orphaned Land with a big ocean because of the sins of mankind. The name Orphaned Land symbolises Israel itself which is a holy place for most people. This holy place is corrupt because of the endless wars and bloodshed that took place because of religion and beliefs. So now it's time for nature to clean the sins and purify the land with the waters of the flood. This is basically what the concept is about: there are three individuals all from different religions coming together in order to stop the wars and save this sacred place. All three of them try in vain to warn their own people against killing each other in the name of God. As a matter of fact, this is exactly what is happening in the Middle East nowadays. People are getting killed day by day for no real cause so Orphaned Land's lyrical statements are quite solid and reflect reality. This album by no means is a 'religious' album where the band members are trying to impose their own beliefs onto the listener; on the contrary Mabool just draws attention on the senselessness and atrocities of war where thousands of innocent people of ALL religions lose their lives in this bloodshed. Musically there is a dichotomy present as well. All kinds of heavy metal instruments are side by side with traditional Arabic instruments such as the 'oud', 'saz' and 'buzuki'. Moreover the mixed ethnic identity of the 'Orphaned Land' is successfully characterized with the inclusion of Hebrew, Arabic, Indian and Latin texts as well as the language of "gibberish" which is a made-up language created by the Orphaned Land members themselves. Kobi Farhi's meticulous attention in the production shows and the vocal harmonies are some of the most original harmonies to have been recorded. Farhi not only does the clean vocals, but he handles the death growls, spoken passages, chants and back vocals as well. The lead guitar work is stunning; you can tell that Yossi Saharon spent a great deal of his time, energy and creativity to write those killer melodies, riffs and solos. I'll leave the rest of my comments about the music for myself since each listener should intrepet it himself best.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Middle-eastern Gem, May 22, 2004
After purchasing 100's of alternative and death metal cd's from many different bands, it was this disk by Orphaned Land that prompted me to write a review. Every track is simply flawless. The music more closely resembles a middle-eastern biblicaly inspired Iced Earth meets Opeth then anything else. "Mabool" takes the listener on an unpresedented voyage through the notoriously religious and mysterious land of Israel by combining elements of ancient judaic scripture with catchy death metal guitars. Kobi Farhi provides the majority of the vocals in a style similar to Opeth's Akerfeldt, switching between the standard death metal growl and high-quality singing. The backup female vocals provided by Shlomit Levi are incredible as is the performance by the Moran Ensemble. The catchy guitars played by Matti Svatizki, Yossi Saharonare, and Uri Zelecha on bass are awesome as is the backing piano played by Eden Rabin. Mabool is a must have cd especially for fans of melodious death metal, Opeth or Iced Earth, worth every penny and much more.
1. Birth of the Three: Track one opens up strong with middle-eastern chanting fading into incredibly catchy guitars and death metal vocals desribing the three sons of seven on which the cd is based. death vocals are perfectly complemented by beautifuly clear, harmonious singing. Guitars are amazingly catchy and the piano backing them makes this song an absolute must hear!
2. Ocean Land: Middle-eastern style guitars place the listener in an ancient desert land to open the track, powerful melodic death metal soon takes over. While the guitars are great, the astoundingly soaring and catchy vocals are key to this songs success.
3. The Kiss of Babylon: My favorite song on the cd. The guitars in this song are incredibly catchy and powerful. The array of vocals ranging from angry death growl to beautiful singing make this song perfect. The song fades into beautiful female hebrew chanting/singing.
4. a'salk: an interesting continuation of the last song. beautiful female vocals along side middle-eastern style guitars mark this song as slow but very melodic.
5. Halo Dies: Well played metal guitars are combined with biblical singing for the first part of the song, then death vocals take over backed by extremely catchy guitars characteristic of bands like Iced Earth.
6. a call to awake: Great Iced Earth style catchy guitars, very powerful, narrative vocals.
7. Building the ark: Incredible song! The melodic middle-eastern instrumentals are amazing as is the singing.
8. Norra El Norra: Judaic singing backed by powerful guitars. Amazingly Beautiful contrast. Fades into wonderful accoustic and piano. Another of my favorites!
9. The Calm before the Flood: Soaring instrumental, well placed in the cd.
10. Mabool: Another Favorite. Wonderful use of orchestra, powerful guitars and vocals. fastest, loudest song on the cd. A truly epic title-track describing the great flood.
11. The storm still rages inside: Continuation of the last track. Loud, fast and melodic. great narrative vocals, soaring guitars.
12. Rainbow The Ressurection: Amazing instrumental. Perfect way to end the cd.
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