Coming to prominence in 1992, Orphaned Land quickly set about putting Tel Aviv on the metal map. After an enforced hiatus later in that decade, this Israeli quintet came back stronger than ever and since their reformation in 2001 have released a string of critically-acclaimed albums. A career built from strife and adversity should be celebrated in style, and that’s precisely what A Heaven You May Create (Live In Tel Aviv) does. Recorded with a cast of 60 performers inside the legendary Heichal HaTarbut hall, this album takes 13 of the band’s most beloved songs and reinterprets them in front of 2,500 adoring fans.

Orphaned Land are one of those few bands who’ve successfully incorporated their native environment into their sound. Their songs about religion and peace, welded to a heavy Middle Eastern folk metal vibe make for an arresting experience, and that’s precisely what A Heaven You Create serves up. There’s something about the beginning of opening track ‘Mabool’ that demands your full attention; this isn’t background music, rather it’s an experience you engage with, and this live recording captures that aesthetic perfectly. The opening riff is like a shofar calling the faithful to worship, and when the rest of the band kick in, it’s with some force. The whole thing swings like a huge pendulum, whilst it’s cyclical, hypnotic nature draws the listener deep into a swirling vortex.

Perceived wisdom has it that heavy metal was born from the blues, while that might be true for the original propagators Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin, a band such as Orphaned Land has far more in common with a composer like Benjamin Britten than bluesman Robert Johnson. That classical influence becomes most apparent on the epic ‘The Storm Still Rages Inside’, a song which makes good use of musical dynamics by pitting loud sections against quiet while the melodic lines, intertwining beautifully (as if from the quill of J.S. Bach), create an interconnecting web of delicious harmonies. The fact that the band appear with a cast of 60 persons only adds to the symphonic feel and the choral voices on ‘The Cave’ are simply stunning.

Orphaned Land have always been a beacon of light inside a dark world and their lyrical themes of hope and unity aim to heal a fractured world. Therefore, A Heaven You May Create, recorded at the height of the global pandemic, seems particularly pertinent. Often heavy as hell, yet strangely uplifting, Orphaned Land’s sound has gradually morphed over time to include elements of progressive rock, and the orchestration of these songs definitely brings that aspect to the fore but make no mistake, this is definitely a metal album, only with oriental and folky flourishes making this a far more dimensional experience than you’d find on most similar releases.

A Heaven You May Create is an inventive album, and one that pays homage to the past three decades, yet it also suggests there’s much more to come.

• A Heaven You May Create is released via Century Media on 1st December 2023.
• Official Website

Track List:

1. Mabool
2. The Storm Still Rages Inside
3. Like Orpheus
4. Sapari
5. The Cave
6. In Propaganda
7. All Knowing Eye
8. Brother
9. Birth Of The Three
10. Ocean Land
11. All Is One
12. In Thy Never Ending Way
13. Norra El Norra