Breaking down the barriers

ISRAELI heavy metal band Orphaned Land has been breaking down barriers for the past 20 years.

The band has been incorporating progressive and death metal, folk music and Middle Eastern melodies into their sound, while also shattering political barriers with their fan base, attracting devotees from across the Arab world.

With a new album, All Is One, released this week by Century Media, the band has taken a new approach to ­songwriting.

“On All Is One, the aim was to be easier to listen to and more straightforward to the listener,” explains guitarist Chen Balbus from Israel.

“We felt the need to do something lighter and yet stronger by the ­content.

“I personally believe in the idea of less is more, and that went amazing on All Is One.”

The new album comes three years after the band’s previous effort, The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR, which took seven years to make.

The album also marks Balbus’s recording debut with the group along with new drummer Matan Shmuely.

“That changed the whole process of songwriting and the way we approach making an album as a band,” says Balbus.

“Since the chemistry was good and we were all fully committed, we managed to release All Is One in a shorter period.”

More than 40 musicians were used, including 25 choir singers and eight classical violin, viola and cello players.

Lyrically, as with previous Orphaned Land albums, there is a central theme.

“The purpose of All Is One is to show that we are all the same – unite all the religions to be as one and not fight each other and encourage hatred between religions,” says Balbus.

“We wish to show the world there is more than just bad – there is room to make a change towards peace. Each song has some sort of relation to the idea, being told from different approaches and points of view.”

Orphaned Land’s message of peace saw them receive a Friendship and Peace Award from the Turkish government in 2012, despite the frosty relationship between Turkey and Israel.

There is also an online petition with more than 2000 signatures calling on the Nobel Prize committee to award the band a Nobel Peace Prize.

Orphaned Land enjoys wide popularity and has a legion of Arab fans.

Vocalist Kobi Farhi says: “I could never imagine in my wildest dreams that one day an Israeli band would be followed by thousands of Muslims from all over the world.

“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.

“Discovering the fact that our music is the instrument to remind people that we are all one is shocking to me … That’s why the title of the album is All Is One.”

REPORT by Gareth Narunsky

PHOTO of Orphaned Land (from left): Chen Balbus, Uri Zelcha, Kobi Farhi, Yossi Sassi and Matan Shmuely. Photo: Ami Bornstein