Israel heavy metal band wins international award

JORDAN MOSHE

Considered the pioneers of Oriental Metal by many, the group is an Israeli heavy metal band founded in 1991 under the name Resurrection. In every piece it produces, Orphaned Land fuses progressive, doom, and death-metal styles together with Middle-Eastern folk music and Arabic musical traditions.

Combining Jewish, Arabic, and other West Asian influences, the band aims to promote a message of peace and unity through its music, particularly between the three main Abrahamic faiths.

The group enjoys considerable popularity across the world, even among Arab communities. In 2012, an online petition was launched for Orphaned Land to be awarded a Nobel Prize for its commitment to allowing the Arab world to listen to its music despite bans on such music issued by the Arab League.

The group’s vocalist, Kobi Farhi, has in fact received three honorary awards for peace, as well as the prized Metal Hammer award for Global Metal Band of the Year 2014.

Established by British progressive rock music magazine Prog in 2012, the Progressive Music Awards recognises talent in the genre with 15 different awards.

The awards acknowledge those artists who have advanced progressive music over the past year, and while seven are chosen by the magazine’s editorial team, eight are voted for by readers, including the award received by Orphaned Land.

Metal aficionados seem to agree that the video Like Orpheus shines a spotlight on metal heads in the Middle East.

Farhi comments: “I’m speechless, really. It’s so exciting to get this positive feedback, especially since we come from such a complex region and have always been writing about it.

“The story of the clip is relevant, and it’s something every metal head should be aware of. I can’t find enough words to thank our fans who were so devoted and voted for us, and of course many thanks to all at Prog for nominating our music clip!”