Ahh, The Power of Music: A Bold Gesture from a Cool Band

You can see why this bunch might be a little controversial

The last time I had spoken of Orphaned Land was in the back of a kitchen in an Israeli hostel. Midway through a trip I had taken this past June, I discovered, much to my surprise, that a website in the far away land had taken an interest in me and my band as well. Our PR guy had alerted Metalist Magazine that I would be visiting the country, so they approached a fellow "rocker of the book" for an interview (10,000 bonus points if you can read this; I sure as hell can't). 

In the midst of discussing the state of forward-thinking music across the globe (and being accosted by the disgruntled cook), Eitan Gafni, the interviewer, asked me if I knew of any Israeli artists, and if so, what I thought of them.

There was a quite a "hmmmm" on my end.

After being forced to listen to this mind-musher

the hora ... the hora

bus ride upon bus ride, I had to give the question some thought. Fortunately, I was able to pull something savvy out of the mind stores: "Oh, Orphaned Land; they're pretty cool." 

That's really the extent of what I could say about them at the time-

I had heard a couple snippets of the self-declared "Jewish Muslim Metal" band a year prior (to be fair, they do have some pretty long tracks), but didn't really think much of them. 

As it turns out, though, they are pretty cool:

Orphaned Land's first single off ORwarriOR, "Sapari"

Their most recent effort, The Never Ending Way of OrwarriOR (yes, they're that epic), was produced by the prog nob-master, Steven Wilson, and delivers a refreshing new brand of exotic heavy music for the open minded. The record, that took five years to complete, spares no creative expense, implementing the talents of The Arabic Orchestra of Nazareth and the group's quadrilingual vocalists. Their music may be cool, but what they're doing right now is very cool.

As someone who has, more or less, devoted his life to music, I still find myself surprised by the art's unique ability to unite people even across the tall barriers of cultural bias. 

I certainly felt at one with the people of Portugal when they gave the "rock 'n roll" treatment to Nickelback five year ago.

Apparently, in Portugal, throwing rocks at a band is a custom of respect that let's the group know THEY REALLY ROCK!

But what Orphaned Land has recently done through metalarmyinternational.com might take this principle to a new level.

www.metalsucks.net

Those who follow any current news on the Middle East are, no doubt, aware of the general animosity encouraged by the governments of many Arab nations toward Israel and the West. On a public scale we see this policy in acts of violence, but on a private level other forms of oppression surface; metal is banned in many of these nations. Israeli metal, however, is an unforgivable sin.

www.411mania.com/music

This past week, vocalist Kobi Farhi announced that ORwarriorOR would be made available to citizens of these countries by means of free download through the site above. He had this to say to the group's most surprising fans:

I know that a fan of Barcelona will never cheer for Real Madrid. So how can it be that Muslim people follow my Israeli band? The answer is simple; the power of music to bring people together! Music has the force to break down walls. Even worst enemies can find a song they both love and right there, in that moment where they can find something in common, opens a door to dialogue, where we understand that we are all one, we are all just people with the same hopes and fears.

We consider you, our Muslim fans, to be the most brave metal heads in the world. Since it is you who are the true 'underground'. We know how hard it is to be a metal head in the Middle East. We would like you to know that we, as pioneers of the Middle Eastern Metal genre, are trying our best to be your voice too. We are doing this without getting into politics that have divided us for ages. I already know that music can bring people together since I see how many fans we have in the Muslim world, despite the fact we are Israelis.

I know that all the wars and nonsense they put in our heads are nothing but lies. I know it because we succeeded to reveal that, and we are not politicians, we are just a heavy metal band at the end of the day. Politics will only bring us to be like our leaders, who fail again and again. While you and us, the 'small people', we succeed. We are having our dialogue! 

I don't think anyone, least of which, the band, would be so naive as to deem this gesture the profound act that will bring peace to an area that has so long been void of it; but who is to say it can't help?

Change is not a sudden phenomenon that is forced into fruition by militaries or government agencies; it's through the people, their interactions, and the gradual changing of minds. If the exchange of music can humanize people on both sides of the conflict (as it, apparently, can-), it's a small step forward that deserves recognition.

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To stream new music and read more about Orphaned Land visit: www.myspace.com/orphanedmyspace