New Release Friday: Orphaned Land, 'Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs'

Orphaned Land is a self identifying Middle Eastern Heavy Metal band hailing from Tel Aviv, Israel commonly credited with founding the Folk Metal subgenre, Oriental Metal.

'Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs' sees the band continue their pursuit of pushing the boundaries of how seamlessly they can interweave heavy metal, Israeli folk, orchestral and choir influences into a cohesive narrative.

The album is a concept album built around the banality of modern culture's 'Cult of Personality', juxtaposing humanity's responses to revolutionaries who have come to free us from the darkness - the murder of visionaries like Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, etc. - against the celebration of celebrities, athletes and world leaders currently being blindly followed.

'Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs' showcases a variety of vocal techniques and spoken word pieces of multiple languages to tell this message across tracks that can be just as varied, one moment almost soundtrack-esque, the next, an epic of battling guitar and sitar riffs.

Production was once again handled by metal icon, Jens Bogren, and sees much of the more progressive elements of the band's past songwriting has been pulled back on 'Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs' allowing more orchestral integration and a clean, streamlined listening experience with smooth transitions and exceptional layering throughout.

Orphaned Land was also joined on the records by 70's rock and progressive guitar legend, Steve Hackett (Genesis), as well as vocalists Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian) and Tomas Lindberg (At The Gates).

Writing and performing under the vision that "people should be judged by their hearts and inner sincerity, not their religious beliefs" and striving to write music interwoven with sociopolitical messages promoting cross-cultural understanding has seen both great success and controversy across the band's five critically acclaimed full-length albums and almost 20 years of existence.

If we do a show in Istanbul, Turkey - which is the only Muslim country where we're allowed to play - people come all the way from Iran, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan just to see us. These are enemies that are fighting each other coming to see us as one group of people.

Having been the recipient of Istanbul Commerce University's Peace Prize for their contribution to the friendship between Muslims and Jews in the Middle East, Friendship and Peace Awards from Dr. Huseyin Tugcu, official adviser to Prime Minster Erdogan, and Bulent Tanik, Mayor of Cankaya, and a 'Global Metal' award from Metal Hammer, Orphaned Land's legacy for truth, love and hope in music resolutely continues through 'Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs'.

I'd say that historically the Jews and Arabs are brothers because we are all descendants of Abraham, but the conflict and the differences are so big that we've forgotten that. Discovering the fact that our music is the instrument to remind people that we are all one is shocking to me. I never imagined that blood enemies would open their eyes because of it.

Orphaned Land have once again written a record that goes far beyond metal, or even music, crafting an experience that is multifaceted, multicultural and, as is always their goal, present.