THE BELOVED'S CRY (DEMO)

"The Beloved's Cry" is a demo album by Israelian progressive extreme metal act Orphaned Land. The demo was originally released by the band but has since been re-released a couple of times. The M.D.M.A Records re-release version from 1999 features an added DVD bonus track.

The music on "The Beloved's Cry" is Doom/Death metal. There are a few middle eastern sounding parts but they are very few and don´t necessarily hint at where the band would go just a few years down the line. Artists like early Paradise Lost and November´s Doom come to mind. Most tracks on the album is in a doom/death metal style with deep growling vocals and heavy doomy but predominantly mid-paced riffs. The title track stands out though as it is a ballad/duet where vocalist Kobi Farhi sings clean vocals and is complimented by a female vocalist. It´s nice for the variation of the release, but not exactly spectacular. It reminds me a bit of the most goth tinged Moonspell.

The musicianship is decent but not too interesting. The deep growling vocals are the highlight here. The sound production is pretty good considering the fact that this is a demo. The sound quality is not up to par with professional sound productions though. Overall "The Beloved's Cry" is a decent release by Orphaned Land, but it lacks the original sound that Orphaned Land would develop later on. A 2.5 star (50%) rating is warranted.