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On stage: Orphaned Land



- Paradise Lost & Orphaned Land - May 2005 - Cologne (D) -
- ProgPower Europe - Oct. 2007 - Baarlo (NL) -
- RockHard Festival - May 2010 - Gelsenkirchen (D) -
- Orphaned Land, Arkan, Myrath & Artweg - Nov. 2011 - Essen (D) -


www.orphaned-land.com









- Orphaned Land, Arkan, Myrath & Artweg -
- Nov. 24th 2011 - Essen (D), Turock -





Artweg - live in Essen

Myrath - live in Essen

Myrath - live in Essen

Myrath - live in Essen

Myrath - live in Essen

Arkan - live in Essen

Arkan - live in Essen

Orphaned Land - live in Essen

Orphaned Land - live in Essen

Orphaned Land - live in Essen

Orphaned Land - live in Essen

A very special package is on tour in Europe, Orphaned Land joined forces with Tunisian band Myrath and French acts Arkan and Artweg. Actually I never heard of Arkan and Artweg before and especially about Artweg I couldn't find much information.


The last 20 times I print out the guest list confirmation and didn't need it, something for the recycle bin. This time I hadn't and you guess it, I wasn't on the guest list. So back home - luckily only a few minutes walk for me - and back with the print out. And so I missed most of Artweg's set. I only saw a bit more then one song. Musically the French remind me a bit of Clawfinger mixed with a dash of groove metal and hardcore. But this might not be a fair judgement, coz it's only based on 1 1/2 songs.


Next in line Myrath. Their new album is called Tales Of The Sands and I was curious to see them live. They kicked off with Sour Sigh, a catchy metal tune with a melancholy opening passage, but which becomes a heavy, progressive tune which they flavored with Oriental sounds. No surprise they focused on Tales Of The Sands and so Braving The Seas followed. It's the first bigger tour for the fivesome who also introduced their new drummer Piwee Disfray to the fans. Due to having the drums set up at one side of the stage and Elyes Bouchoucha's keyboards at the other side, there wasn't much space for the other guys to move, so guitarist Malek Ben Arbia and bassist Anis Jouini focused on their playing. After the second song singer Zaher Zorgati introduced the band to the audience... "We are Myrath from Tunisia." he said in German, but confessed he speak just little German. Time for Merciless Times, the tune they did a video for. At that time they already had the crowd hooked up with their catchy tunes. More tunes from their latest album should follow... After Under Siege Zaher Zorgati thanked Orphaned Land, Arkan and Artweg for the great time on tour and the people for coming out to see the tour of peace. Wide Shut should follow, a real ear catcher - with twists and turns. Two more - including a sing along passage - it was time to come to an end. "This is called Beyond The Stars of Essen! This is the last song for tonight!" And they headed into Beyond The Stars. Time is flying when you have fun, and it seemed I wasn't the only one who would love to hear more. But with a 4 band package the stage time for the supports is limits - unfortunately - and that's just one reason why I prefer smaller tour packages.


Anyway, time for a change over, time to prepare the stage for French outfit Arkan. The French kicked off with the opener of their latest release Salam, with Origins. Salam is the 2nd full-length album of Arkan who mix melodic death metal with Oriental sounds and also get labeled as Gothic due to Sarah Layssac's vocals. Unfortunately her vocals drowned in the music. When she was talking between songs I could hear her very well, but as soon as they headed into a song, her vocals were almost in audible. "We are Arkan from Paris, this one is from our first album..." Sarah introduced Tied Fates from Hilal, their 2008 released full-length debut. Time for more songs from Salam, Inner Slaves and Deus Vult followed. During the instrumental parts or harsh vocal passages Sarah danced, but it seemed more her way of celebrating the music then for entertaining the audience. At Inner Slaves her vocals were strong enough to brave the wall of guitars and she reminded me a bit of Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil)... mainly her timbre. Guitarist Florent Jannier is doing the harsh vocals and so gives the songs an aggressive edge. Before they headed into Deus Vult Sarah addressed the crowd: "We want to thank everybody on this Tour Of Peace - Artweg, Myrath and Orphaned Land!" Slowly and with Oriental sounds they headed into Deus Vult which is a sonic roller coaster ride. After Beyond Sacred Rules where Sarah animated everybody to dance she asked the crowd "Do you know what 'salam' means? It means 'peace'! Are you ready for peace?" At Salam it's Florent's duty to start and so the song begins in a melodic death metal style, but gets more melodic when Sarah joins in. They played one more song, but I can't tell you which one. Sorry. Arkan delivered a powerful set, but as Sarah's vocals were too low in volume an essential part of the Arkan sound was missing. But that's live.


One more change over and the founders of Oriental metal entered the stage. Orphaned Land started two decades ago, have 4 full-length albums out and did a lot touring. Now they celebrate their 20 years anniversary with live album / DVD called The Road To ORwarriOR. Yossi Sa'aron and his pals started their set with Halo Dies (The Wrath Of God) off Mabool. The epic tune was also chosen to kick off the concert they recorded for The Road To ORwarriOR. Yossi Sa'aron was obviously in a splendid mood, but singer Kobi Farhi and the rest of the gang enjoyed being on stage, too. The first songs were played without a break and when Kobi first addressed the audience he stated - as usual - "I'm not Jesus"! A bit later he dedicated A Neverending Way to someone, if I got it right he said Toby... Most of the songs they play they have on the live album / DVD, but exchanged a few. But they didn't disappoint their fans at all, coz songs like Sapari were played and as usual the belly dancer joined them for this one. After From Broken Vessels Kobi Farhi addressed the crowd again: "The next I dedicate to my friend Zaher, to Myrath and to all the bands!" And slowly began The Path (Part 1) - Treading Through Darkness, one of the songs you won't find on the live album. But it perfectly fit into the set. After a few more songs, the crew placed a bar stool at Yossi's side and handed him a bouzouki - and fans knew it's time for El Meod Na'Ala. But first Kobi reminded the fans that they were part of the first Oriental metal tour and that Oriental metal is the future! With In Thy Neverending Way (Epilogue) the set ended. They had some encores planned and didn't let the people wait for it long. First it was just Kobi and Yossi for The Beloved's Cry and The Storm Still Rages Inside, then the whole band presented the bands 'hit' Norra el Norra. One more time the belly dancer joined them and with Ornaments Of Gold it was over.


As it was Thursday night most fans left immediately and some paid the merch booth a visit first. People enjoyed this special tour packages and while preferences will differ, nobody left disappointed. Hopefully we'll see more Oriental metal in future!




Claudia Ehrhardt

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           ©2008-2011 by Claudia Ehrhardt • E-Mail: contact@ice-vajal.com




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