John Zorn should take Orphaned Land under his wing

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To put you in context, Orphaned Land is an rather progressive metal
band from Israel. They've been incorporating elements from
middle-eastern and traditional Jewish music in their sound since their
beginnings. To tell the truth, it's their trademark. 

John Zorn is that crazy jazz saxophonist, founder of experimental
jazz-rock band Naked City and producer/promoter of Mr. Bungle (amongst many other things). Like the
members of Orphaned Land, Zorn is Jewish, but most importantly, he is
an advocate of avant-garde music.

I believe Orphaned Land has a lot of potential. I personally enjoy their music.
Unfortunately, their sound (by this I mean the production, not the
songs) sucks. Moreover, their aesthetics are kitsch and inconsistent. Their albums present various images of eagles, crosses, stars of David, snakes, triangles... Yes, it is supposed to represent the band's lyrics, but, I mean, what
more? An image of the prophet Muhammad?

In order to make of Orphaned Land a thriving band, John Zorn should
sign them to his avant-garde label, Tzadik. As a matter of fact, he
already signed a lot of, in my opinion, less talented experimental metal acts. That Porcupine Tree dude was a bad choice. To prove my point, think of ORwarriOR... The title is awful and, secondly, it's not even out yet.

C'mon Zorn express your camaraderie!

Edited by Prospero - April 20 2009 at 00:05

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Prospero Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Groupie Joined: June 06 2008 Location: Quebec Status: Offline Points: 91	Topic: John Zorn should take Orphaned Land under his wing Posted: April 19 2009 at 23:47
	To put you in context, Orphaned Land is an rather progressive metal band from Israel. They've been incorporating elements from middle-eastern and traditional Jewish music in their sound since their beginnings. To tell the truth, it's their trademark. John Zorn is that crazy jazz saxophonist, founder of experimental jazz-rock band Naked City and producer/promoter of Mr. Bungle (amongst many other things). Like the members of Orphaned Land, Zorn is Jewish, but most importantly, he is an advocate of avant-garde music. I believe Orphaned Land has a lot of potential. I personally enjoy their music. Unfortunately, their sound (by this I mean the production, not the songs) sucks. Moreover, their aesthetics are kitsch and inconsistent. Their albums present various images of eagles, crosses, stars of David, snakes, triangles... Yes, it is supposed to represent the band's lyrics, but, I mean, what more? An image of the prophet Muhammad? In order to make of Orphaned Land a thriving band, John Zorn should sign them to his avant-garde label, Tzadik. As a matter of fact, he already signed a lot of, in my opinion, less talented experimental metal acts. That Porcupine Tree dude was a bad choice. To prove my point, think of ORwarriOR... The title is awful and, secondly, it's not even out yet. C'mon Zorn express your camaraderie! Edited by Prospero - April 20 2009 at 00:05

Henry Plainview Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: May 26 2008 Location: Declined Status: Offline Points: 16715	Posted: April 19 2009 at 23:50
	I thought the point of Tzadik was the to give artists the chance to fully express themselves. If Orphaned Land are already signed by whoever, then it isn't really necessary.

Prospero Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Groupie Joined: June 06 2008 Location: Quebec Status: Offline Points: 91	Posted: April 19 2009 at 23:57
	Yes you are right. But every musician needs directions. Think of Miles Davis and Teo Macero for example. Similarly, you can think of ECM. Manfred Eicher gives the artists the chance to fully express themselves, yet you can always tell it's ECM when you hear the record.

stonebeard Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: May 27 2005 Location: NE Indiana Status: Offline Points: 28057	Posted: April 20 2009 at 00:03
	I think someone, ANYONE, should just sit Orphaned land down and make them finish the f**king album.
	My soundcloud. Please give feedback if you want!

omri Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Senior Member Joined: April 21 2005 Location: Israel Status: Offline Points: 1250	Posted: April 20 2009 at 10:10
	Hmmmmm I'm ashame to admit I never heared these guys. From what I read in Prospero's post I'm not sure if I should bother. Prospero, I totally agree with you about ECM. In the 80's I knew it's a "can't miss" option to get an ECM record whoever was the artist. They realy made excellent work.
	omri

sleeper Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Prog Reviewer Joined: October 09 2005 Location: Entropia Status: Offline Points: 16449	Posted: April 20 2009 at 10:29
	In short, no. Orphaned Land are a progressive metal act that compose songs in the traditional progressive metal vein but, because they are based in Isreal, incorporate a fair few Middle Eastern and Jewish themes into their music as well as the jazz and classical that most prog metal bands try, and thats a pretty flimsy connection to make between the the two. They basically have nothing in common with the avant garde projects that John Zorn either works on or supports through Tzadik records.
	Spending more than I should on Prog since 2005

Prospero Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Forum Groupie Joined: June 06 2008 Location: Quebec Status: Offline Points: 91	Posted: April 20 2009 at 17:39
	Well, just recently a Tzadik musician named Jamie Saft released Black Shabbis on which rather straightforward folk-influenced metal music was featured. However, you reminded me of the fact that Orphaned Land members still live in Israel. It doesn't help when you want to enlarge your audience and sign with a New-York based (I believe) record label. Edited by Prospero - April 20 2009 at 17:40

Dean Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Reviewer page Special Collaborator Retired Admin and Amateur Layabout Joined: May 13 2007 Location: Europe Status: Offline Points: 37575	Posted: April 20 2009 at 18:19
	I don't see the point to be frank. They are already signed to Century Media - one of the biggest independant metal labels - as a Progressive Death metal band I would imaging CM are better placed to market and promote them than Tzadik. The next album is currently in production (they are posting studio dairy reports on the Ultimate Metal band forum) and due for release in the autumn with the final mix to be done by Steven Wilson - the Steven Wilson tag-line is also going to give them more exposure to the right audience.
	What?