Orphaned Land at the Oud Festival

We caught Israeli metal act Orphaned Land at the Oud Festival last week. One would think that a doom metal band wouldn’t be a good fit at a festival dedicated to the Oud, but Orphaned Land was more perfect than you can possibly imagine.

While they are indeed a heavy metal band, they are highly influenced by Middle Eastern music and their lead guitarist, Yossi Saharon, shifted seamlessly between playing the acoustic guitar, saz and buzuki. I wasn’t that familiar with their cannon but it was fairly easy to differentiate between their originals and the traditional Hebrew and Arabic songs they performed. A definite highlight was their performance of Mutlu Ol Yeter by Turkish musician, Ibrahim Tatlises. Orphaned Land has a rabid following in Turkey, and they learned this song especially for their most recent performance there.

But the fun didn’t stop there. The band were joined by Yossi’s uncle on Oud, his father on vocals and his grandfather, Abraham Salman, one of the greatest living Qanun (Iranian Zither) players in the world. It was a joyous celebration of music in a family atmosphere. It felt like they do this all the time.

The audience was quite a mixed bunch. Definitely some hardcore Orphaned Land fans who chanted “Orphaned Land” in unison on more than one occasion (we joined them) as well as those who probably attend every Oud Festival performance.

So how did a doom metal band come to play at the Oud Festival? Well, according to OL lead singer Kobi Farhi, festival director Effie Benaya had Orphaned Land’s cd placed in his hand by his sixteen year old son who thought they might be a good fit. Farhi and the band seemed blessed to be playing at the festival. Yemenite vocalist Shlomit Levi brought the house down with her unbelievable vocals.

Orphaned Land is currently recording their new album with Steven Wilson of The Porcupine Tree at the production knobs. While they already have a large cult following around the world and blow away every audience that sees them perform, I have a feel once the new album comes out, they are going to be a household name. At least in metal households.

Tags: Jerusalem, orphaned land acoustic, oud festival