Send "Orphaned Land " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Sputnikmusic |
 Mabool was an unbelievably fresh listen when it was released six years ago. Of course fresh is a conflicted word to use when concerning Orphaned Land, who put almost 8 years of work into the album. One could easily assume that by the time of it's release the Isreali four[-hundred] piece outfit would have grown pretty tired of what fans were being newly exposed to. So now, another six years in waiting we've got Mabool's long awaited follow-up. The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR begs the question of how Orphaned Land can match Mabool's freshness. How can they re-capture the impact of an album fans have had six years to absorb? On first listen, the answer is blatant if contrived---the solution, it would seem, would be to more or less release the same album over again. As far as aesthetic goes, The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR comes about as close as a Vietnamese knock off. It features many of the same sounds and ideas, but captures none of Mabool's intangibles and effervescence.Obviously crafted with all-things-grandiose in mind, The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR falls hardest as a result of its grandeur. Everything from the album's overlong title to its bloated hour and eighteen minute run-time feels like fodder for comparisons, but what made Mabool so special was how naturally it flowed from point A to point B and how it did so while developing a story that may or may not have mattered to the listener. On The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR, Orphaned Land seem to be throwing things in just for the sake of doing so. As a result, it's a tedious listen; I think it took somewhere around four attempts for me to make it through the entire thing in one sitting. It certainly feels like it took six years to make, but only because it's chock filled with everything from choirs to misplaced modem sound effects (surely a result of enlisting egomaniac and self-proclaimed super-producer Steven Wilson). It sacrifices cohesion and linearity for sheer girth and when it comes to contemporary metal, I'm a firm believer that thin is in. It takes about 15 minutes before we get to “Treading Through Darkness”, the first part of the two-track “The Path”. I'm not sure the wait is warranted---both “Sapari” and “Bereft in the Abyss” are underdeveloped and lacklustre and even “From Broken Vessels” feels out of place sandwiched between what is largely a nonsequitur of an intro and a disposable acoustic 3 minutes of melodrama. Nonsequitur might be the word that best captures the album as a whole, with “The Pilgrimage to or Shalem” (or “The Path – Part Two”) being little more than an extended wank session. A seven and a half minute wank session that undermines its first part, which is easily the best song on the album and a highlight of the band's growing catalogue....full text |
| Metalstorm |
| [Part I: Godfrey's Cordial - An ORphan's Life] 01. Sapari 02. From Broken Vessels 03. Bereft In The Abyss 04. The Path Part 1 - Treading Through Darkness 05. The Path Part 2 - The Pilgrimage To Or Shalem 06. Olat Ha'tamid [Part II: Lips Acquire Stains - The WarriOR Awakens] 07. The Warrior 08. His Leaf Shall Not Wither 09. Disciples Of The Sacred Oath II 10. New Jerusalem 11. Vayehi Or 12. M I ? [Part III: Barakah - Enlightening The Cimmerian] 13. Barakah 14. Codeword: Uprising 15. In Thy Never Ending Way (Epilogue) Release dates: January 25: Europe January 27: Japan February 9: USA...full text |
| Allmediareviews |
| "Israel's progressive folk metal masters ORPHANED LAND will release their highly anticipated fourth studio opus, "The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR", in Europe on January 25, 2010 and in the U.S. on February 9 via Century Media Records. Mixed by Steven Wilson (PORCUPINE TREE, OPETH), who is also responsible for several keyboard parts on the new CD, the effort is a sophisticated concept album which takes ORPHANED LAND's unique brand of exotic, heavy music to soaring new heights in terms of complexity and catchiness. "The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR" track listing: Part I: Godfrey's Cordial – An ORphan's Life 01. Sapari 02. From Broken Vessels 03. Bereft In The Abyss 04. The Path Part 1 – Treading Through Darkness 05. The Path Part 2 – The Pilgrimage To Or Shalem 06. Olat Ha'tamid Part II: Lips Acquire stains – The WarriOR Awakens 07. The Warrior 08. His Leaf Shall Not Wither 09. Disciples Of The Sacred Oath II 10. New Jerusalem 11. Vayehi Or 12. M I ? Part III: Barakah – Enlightening The Cimmerian 13. Barakah 14. Codeword: uprising 15. In Thy Never Ending Way (Epilogue) Vocalist Kobi Farhi comments on the album's concept and the striking new promo photo (see below): "First of all, I wish to thank each and every one of you for all the comments you left for our new band photo. The comments were from Jews, Christians and Muslims as one. You all know that this unification is what we're all about. "'The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR' is a concept album revolving around a hero: the warrior of light. This hero isn't someone specific, but could be the listener of the album himself, as this album deals with the problems we are facing in our lives every day. Especially here, in the Middle East, we feel that we are trapped in a loop of confusion and darkness. Living in this region, we see that year after year nothing changes. People continue to die in useless wars and we are trapped in a bloody circle. ORPHANED LAND has been around for 18 years and we continue to sing about the same subjects and stories, because after 18 years we are still living in a tragic, orphaned land. To fight this tragedy we have chosen a peaceful, yet powerful weapon: our music." Farhi previously stated about the upcoming CD: "As people that were born into the tragedy of our region, we have always been devoted to creating harmony between conflicts, a musical heaven on earth, a tango between God and Satan. Even in the album's artwork we combined Hebrew and Arabic, regardless of the fight between Jews and Muslims. I found a Jordanian guy, specialized in calligraphic artwork. He took letters from Hebrew and Arabic and moulded them in his art to create a symbol of peace. Same goes for our band photo, where we portrayed a synergy between the three monotheistic religions that believe in the same God and yet ridiculously have been killing each other for centuries 'in the name of God' and turned the holy land into an orphaned land. Naturally, we continued this idea of union on a musical level as well and the result is as always crazy, it's a miracle — in our concerts: our Jewish fans sing in Arabic and our Muslim fans sing in Hebrew, brave friendships have spawned and our Middle Eastern metal music destroys all this political witchcraft we have been trapped in for so long. This is a musical journey of hope in lands of war, creating heaven on earth, building a new Jerusalem."...full text |
Orphaned Land lyrics
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