MABOOL - THE STORY OF THE THREE SONS OF SEVEN

Orphaned Land seems to me a band for which the meaning of their songs and their music is (very) important. It seems to me a band that wants to make statements. Unfortunately I'm a progressive fan who is only interested in the music and what it sounds like (a bit shallow maybe but alas). In this case I know this band is from Israel but really I don't know what their political direction is (somehow that seems important to me if you're from Israel but I could be mistaking) and in the end it's not too important if you only care about music.

With Orphaned Land it's not even possible to find out what they are all saying in their songs because it's partly sung in Hebrew and I'm not a jew (or studied Hebrew) so I haven't got a clue. And there we have the problem I have with this album, it's a bit too folky for me, not just the lyrics but also the instrumental aspect. Of course that can be interesting and it's highly original to say the least but it's not my thing.

On the other hand there are some very positive aspects too, for instance the guitar playing (Storm still rages inside !!!) and the fresh sound of the band. This album is an enjoyable listen for more than an hour but like I said I'm being poised between positive and negative elements with this album. The logical conclusion would be 3 stars and that's what it will be.

By the way: the title track is also very interesting with the classical start. Really nice.