ORPHANED LAND: Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs (PROGRESSIVE METAL,Heavy Metal): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

At the release of "All Is One", Kobi Farhi had declared that he wanted to increase the rhythm of composition in order to reduce the time between two albums. The objective is partly achieved since Orphaned Land is back four years after the delightful "All Is One". In the meantime, the Israelis have participated in the "Kna'an" project with their compatriots Amaseffer and the departure of Yossi Sassi has been confirmed.

At Orphaned Land, the trigger for any creative process is the concept. The Israelis draw from their deepest nature the spirit of Orphaned Land as Kobi Farhi calls it, the necessary resource to give it life. Thus the band transcends its particular origins into a spiritual message of universal scope and a music with an original mix of metal and oriental folklore. In "Mabool" and "ORwarriOR", Orphaned Land advocated understanding and brotherhood between peoples in the form of biblical stories or poetic allegories while in "All Is One" the proposal took a more direct and exoteric turn.

On the occasion of their sixth album "Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs", Orphaned Land relies on Greek mythology (Plato's allegory of the cave) and dystopian and critical literature (George Orwell and Aldous Huxley) to deliver a political discourse of anger with an unprecedented radicality. This translates into a tone more black ('Only The Dead Have Seen The End Of War') and sad (the klezmer violins of 'Poets Of Prophetic Messianism') than the one tinged with optimism and hope of its two predecessors.

Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs" synthesizes the conceptual and epic dimensions of "Mabool" and "ORwarriOR" with the orchestral elements, arrangements and instant approach ("Left Behind") of "All Is One" in a masterful balance. The contrast is found in the division between moments of calm ('Poets Of Prophetic Messianism') and storm ('Take My Hand', 'My Brother's Keeper') with always this same depth in the symphonic ornamentation ('In Propaganda'). The impact of the power is skilfully distilled via the targeted and parsimonious use of growls restricted to the most percussive moments of the record ('We Do Not Resist', 'Only The Dead Have Seen The End Of War' with a possessed Tomas Lindberg).

As usual with Orphaned Land, "Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs" cultivates their emotional intensities and the richness of their melodies thanks to the beauty and the extent of the choirs with ancient overtones ('Chains Fall To Gravity', 'Poets Of Prophetic Messianism', The Manifest - Epilogue') as well as the expressiveness of Kobi's vocals and the lyricism of the musicians (the magnificent solo in the folk ballad 'All Knowing Eye' and Steve Hackett's heartbreaking intervention in the progressive 'Chains Fall To Gravity').

Orphaned Land completes here a work that is both accessible and dense, coherent and evolving, that takes shape as it evolves. "Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs" is the most complete record musically, the most symbolic visually and the most conceptually meaningful of the Israelis. Carried by a story as gripping and epic as ever, embodied in a tension that rises in crescendo, and nourished by a trippy inner force, "Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs" delivers a message of truth that is necessary to listen to. - Official website

ORPHANED LAND

UNSUNG PROPHETS & DEAD MESSIAHS

CENTURY MEDIA RECORDS

PROGRESSIVE METAL