Artist: Orphaned Land
Venue: B.B. King Blues Club (New York, NY)
Opener: Suidakra, Gwynbleidd
Date: 3/8/2010
Label: Century Media Records
The weekend is almost always sanctuary for the workaday types and those that are entrenched in study. If they are lucky, by the time that it comes around it has given them the escape of a rousing Metal show and this past weekend, as our March Metal Madness began, we surely had our fill because the mighty Kreator performed on Saturday around the corner at the Nokia Theatre while last night was Hammerfall down at The Fillmore. I could think of no better way to prepare oneself for the usual grind and while Monday’s almost always suck when it comes down to it – this would not be the case tonight because down inside the welcoming walls of B.B. King Blues Club, a show of amazing proportions was going to take place. From Israel would come Orphaned Land, a band that while making a couple of appearances at a Prog-Metal festival over the years had never embarked on a lengthy tour of this region and their direct support for this batch of shows would be Germany’s Suidakra. We caught Suidakra once before over at The Highline Ballroom when they appeared for the Pagan Knights tour with Tyr & Alestorm. Starting the evening off for all of the gathering Metal heads would be Brooklyn’s own Gwynbleidd.
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Artist: Orphaned Land
Title: “Mabool”
Label: Century Media Records
Release Date: 4/6/2004
Genre: Ethnic Power Metal
Rating: 8/10
With “Mabool” as their debut release on Century Media Records; Orphaned Land has returned with a very interesting take on the traditional power metal standard. Across the length of the CD, “Mabool” essentially defies that which is considered a requirement for those that travel the path of this genre. However, despite how weird this statement might seem, this CD works on all levels. Instead of just power chords and slamming musicianship you are treated to a unique blend of Power, Classical, Ethnic and even Jazz at some points. There is a number of different vocal styling delivered across the piece as well as some Narration, and truly this is just a very magical CD. I like the fact that this interesting mix even defies that of most Progressive bands that focus on Metal. The strong emphasis on the Ethnic aspect in this piece is due to the bands origins in Israel where Kobi Farhi, Yossi Sassi & friends give us the story of “Mabool” (or The Flood). It is a legend based on the Sons Of The Seven, and it takes us through their journeys as they try to prevent the Wrath Of God from striking upon the Land. It is truly a tale of Biblical proportions and while steeped in that area of life, it is not religious in the sense that Stryper is. This is more rooted in the mythology side or passed down tales.
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