by Ed Rivadavia
Probably one of the world's most unique and trailblazing heavy metal bands, Israel's Orphaned Land borrow heavily from Middle Eastern music styles to spice up their otherwise extreme metal sound. Founded in 1991 under the original name of Resurrection, Orphaned Land quickly drew attention to their unorthodox style via 1992's The Beloved's Cry demo (later issued on CD in 2000) and then contracted with France's Holy Records and issued two well-regarded albums in 1994's Sahara and 1996's El Nora Alila. During this productive period, the band's lineup consisted of Kobi Farhi (vocals), Yossi Saharon (lead guitar), Matti Svatitzki, (rhythm guitar), Uri Zelcha (bass), Itzik Levy (keyboards), and Sami Bachar (drums), but internal dissension, not to mention their relative geographic isolation in the international rock spectrum, ultimately drove them apart.
A long silence ensued, but in 2001 Orphaned Land decided to reunite for a series of concerts and a one-off acoustic set. The enthusiastic response to these showed that their original albums had gradually seduced a large number of fans throughout the Arab world, and proved reason enough for a more permanent reunion to take place. So after obtaining new members Eden Rabin (keyboards) and Avi Diamand (drums), Orphaned Land struck a new deal with Century Media and released their long-awaited third album, Mabool (The Story of the Three Sons of Seven), in 2004.