Review Summary: From the beginning to the end, this is a solid album. It is not Mabool Part 2, but what it is, is a fantastically epic masterpiece.
When Orphaned Land released
Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven back in 2004 it was universally praised for it's fresh fusion of Arabic elements, and plenty of heavy metal crunch. Now six years have passed, and they bring us
The Neverending Way of ORWarriOR, following up an acclaimed album like Mabool is not an easy task. The question is, do they pull it off? In one word: Yes.
ORWarriOR comes storming right out of the gate with plenty of incredible tracks of it's own,
Sapari kicks the album off just right and makes the listener psyched to check out the rest. While there are some areas that ORWarriOR that are indeed flawed; the good far outweighs the bad on this album. Like Mabool it's a concept album, but that's where the similarities end. While Mabool focused on the three main religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, how the three are similar to one another, creating a tale of Biblical proportions; ORWarriOR focuses on a more personal story of the
Warrior of Light, his battle against darkness, and the hope that light will eventually overcome darkness.
Right off the bat, you'll notice a distinguishing difference from their previous work. For one, Shlomit Levi, whom is the female singer for Orphaned Land, seems to have a much stronger presence than she did in Mabool. Alot of the songs in ORWarriOR feature her singing and honestly it sounds damn good, the woman can sing as showcased on the track
New Jerusalem where her vocals feature prominantly throughout the first minute or two of the song. Throughout the entire album, there are tracks that feature her harmonizing with male counterpart and lead singer Kobi Farhi.
Another example of how different from Mabool this is; is the string arrangements throughout, which gives this album a distinctly different sound from other Orphaned Land works. They are done by the
Arab Orchestra of Nazareth, it is noted that this was purposefully done to give this album a different sound and feel from Mabool. This was a success on many grounds, as this album sounds almost nothing like Mabool orchestration wise. The main similarities lie within the guitar work and vocals but even then, what's here is just that damn good.
Production as a whole also seems to be stronger throughout; with Kobi and Shlomit's vocals being a particular strong point and focus. Throughout the six years since Mabool's release, Kobi has become a better singer and it shows here; there is just something about the vocals that just feels right and even more powerful than before. He seems to be singing even more in pitch than he has in the past which is simply wonderful; also, for those who are curious his signature growl is very much present here. The track
Disciples of the Sacred Oath II is a prime example of what I am talking about.
The album also has some interesting mixes thrown in, for instance; use of distortion to make some parts sound like they were done through a phonograph, traditional Hebrew street songs seem to be sung in a few of the tracks. These seague almost flawlessly into some of the crunchiest guitar riffs I've heard in some time.
While there are some flaws, especially with some of the common complaints being that the album feels overly dragged out; it's hard to argue that it certainly is long at 78 minutes and 12 seconds, perhaps some of the tracks could've stood to have been cut short by a minute or two since in some cases there is some fill-in riffage, but it still sounds good so it's totally tolerable. However, the grandiose scale of ORWarriOR and the tale it seeks to weave seems to offset this flaw.
As a whole, ORWarriOR is a masterpiece, a few niggling flaws do not offset the good of this album. From the opening of
Sapari to the closing speech present in
In Thy Never Ending Way it does not disappoint. This was without a doubt a labor of love for Orphaned Land and it shows. You'd be doing yourself a favor by grabbing this album.
