MABOOL - THE STORY OF THE THREE SONS OF SEVEN

Orphaned Land produces a brilliant and truly unique fusion of Prog Metal, Oriental/Middle-Eastern traditional Folk music, and even some Symphonic progressive Rock. I very much enjoy successful fusions of Folk music and progressive Rock or Metal and Orphaned Land is one of the very few bands that really pull it off without sounding either messy or cheesy. The fact that they sing in various languages (English, Hebrew, Latin and more) and various styles (clean male and female vocals as well as Death Metal growls!), it is very easy to be led to believe that the end result is a complete mess. While it did indeed sound a little bit "messy" on the first couple of listens, this impression quickly faded away and the very strong material a very well thought-out structures revealed themselves.

Mabool: The Story Of The Three Sons Of Seven is a concept album and this is one of the several things that helps keep it all together very nicely. The concept is the biblical story of the flood. The material is powerful and varied with recurring themes and many interesting twists and turns.

Even if I usually dislike growling vocals, I quickly grew to like this album a lot. Indeed, I am very impressed by this ground-breaking and unique blend of styles to create something brand new. Finding comparisons with other bands is not easy, but I instantly think of another band when hearing Orphaned Land: the great Irish Celtic Metal band Cruachan. Not because they sound similar as such - they certainly don't! - but because they both successfully fuse (extreme) Metal with some form of traditional music and giving these elements about equal space. Both also have some symphonic Prog elements. While Cruachan builds on the Irish/Celtic mythology, history and musical tradition, Orphaned Land, as I've said already, builds upon their own (they hail from Israel) cultural background in their ethnic and Folk influences. Both bands also, despite their extreme Metal background, had some kind of commercial "hit" songs (at least in their home markets); Cruachan with Ride On and Orphaned Land with Nora El Nora (Entering The Ark).

Very highly recommended!

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