Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven

[Dark One]

and surely to be a let down compared to the almighty Mabool.

Ah, be sure to let that "anti-hype" continue to dominate your expectations. The lower your expectations, the more receptive to a surprising payoff you'll be.

 

[JayKeeley]

I know I know...but Mabool cannot be surpassed I don't think. Seven years in the making, the stars were aligned. It's probably the second greatest release of this decade in my opinion, and lightning can't strike twice.....or can it?

Plus they've got that Porcupine Tree fucker producing the new one which means more prog, and less doom and death. I don't think he'll keep a good balance at all, unless they stand their ground.

I love the fact that as a group, Orphaned Land don't claim to be 70's fag hags etc but instead they listen to their favorite albums like "The Red in the Sky is Ours" and "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son".

Orphaned Land + heavy metal = now you're speaking my language

 

[Dark One]

I know I know...but Mabool cannot be surpassed I don't think. Seven years in the making, the stars were aligned. It's probably the second greatest release of this decade in my opinion, and lightning can't strike twice.....or can it?

No counterpoint to the majesty of Mabool that's for sure - I'm just in the camp expecting an excellent album that I'm going to try very hard not to compare to the achievement of its predecessor. I understand it'll be difficult, but I'm still going to try.

Plus they've got that Porcupine Tree fucker producing the new one which means more prog, and less doom and death. I don't think he'll keep a good balance at all, unless they stand their ground.

I can see where you're coming from, and I suppose it's a justifiable Steve Wilson stereotype, but I'm going to play more of a "let's wait and see" game anyway. He's never produced an Orphaned Land album before, so perhaps the influence will run both ways. They're a formidible presence to say the least.

I love the fact that as a group, Orphaned Land don't claim to be 70's fag hags etc but instead they listen to their favorite albums like "The Red in the Sky is Ours" and "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son".

Orphaned Land + heavy metal = now you're speaking my language

An analysis which serves to bolster my confidence even further. Can't wait.

Jason

 

[skyrefuge]

I know I know...but Mabool cannot be surpassed I don't think.

I was saying this about 'El Norra Alila' for the whole seven years I was waiting for the followup. But damn, somehow with 'Mabool', they did surpass it, or at least come really close. Which is an incredible thing to pull off in the face of such expectations. So, maybe they can do it again!

But yeah, the vast majority of bands never do that once (release a great album that makes you strongly anticipate their new one, which is then even greater), so I'd say it's extremely unlikely for them to do it twice. But....maybe!

Re: Steve Wilson, he *wants* to become Mr. Metal, so I'm not too worried about him fucking things up (in that way, at least). It's not like Opeth got any less metal (unfortunately!) when he started messing with them.

Neil

 

[Para-Void]

Yes, Opeth still had the same metal elements with him... but it didn't sound as raw anymore, but rather forced, and too clean. He's the Bob Rock of Opeth... I see darkness.

and why does no one mention Sahara?? it's on the same level as the other two! Seasons Unite, Ornaments of Gold are amazing death metal.

 

[skyrefuge]

Yes, Opeth still had the same metal elements with him... but it didn't sound as raw anymore, but rather forced, and too clean. He's the Bob Rock of Opeth... I see darkness.

Hmm...I dunno, 'Blackwater Park' sounds almost identical to 'Still Life' to me. But, I can't really claim myself to be an expert, as I'm not really crazy about anything they did after 'Morningrise' (which was when their sound/style really changed).

Either way, Orphaned Land already became all glossy and Bob Rock-ed with 'Mabool', so that horse has already left the barn!

and why does no one mention Sahara?? it's on the same level as the other two! Seasons Unite, Ornaments of Gold are amazing death metal.

It's great, but it's their least-developed and least-accessible album, so it gets a lot less talk. Being old and not released by Century Media doesn't help either.

Neil

 

[Eminor]

This was the album that immediately came to mind when I saw Jay Keeley's "group therapy" thread. It's just never done anything for me, although I gave it a shot. I haven't heard it for a couple years though, so I think I'll drag it back out and hear again. I'm notoriously slow about making my mind up about things. If I came to love this album it would be a pretty big shock though.

 

[Krilons Resa]

It took me over 3 years to realize the absolute brilliance of this album.

 

[Tide In Mind Out]

Great album! I did get kinda burnt out with it for a while, I had it on my MP3 player for too long with not a lot else lol. Time to put it back on

 

[JayKeeley]

One album out of two released in this decade that could probably sit in my top 10 of all time.

So glad I got to see them perform this material in '05 (plus their acoustic set the night before).

Oddly enough, I took both this and Elegy off the shelf today so I could listen in the car.

 

[Dick Sirloin]

something from the 90's (whatever the fuck interesting happened in that decade outside of grunge and seven string Ibanez playing by white guys with corn rows and ribbons ).

Well, I finally located the nu/90s-metal component...

Check out the Coal Chamber vocals at the 1:57 mark of "Ocean Land"

 

[Reign in Acai]

When good bands take bad photo ops...

As communicated before, the album is mixed by Steven Wilson who also plays keyboards on it. According to Century Media: “The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR turns out to be a sophisticated concept album taking ORPHANED LAND’s unique brand of exotic, heavy music to soaring new heights in terms of complexity and catchiness. It is an audible manifest that the time has come for Middle Eastern metal to take over!”

Orphaned Land_promoSimultaneously with the news of a release date, we also get a new promo picture of the band which is… striking, to say the least. This is what Kobi has to say about it:
“As people that were born into the tragedy of our region, we have always been devoted to creating harmony between conflicts, a musical heaven on earth, a tango between God & Satan. Even in the album’s artwork we combined Hebrew and Arabic, regardless of the fight between Jews and Muslims. I found a Jordanian guy, specialized in calligraphic artwork. He took letters from Hebrew and Arabic and moulded them in his art to create a symbol of peace. Same goes for our band photo, where we portrayed a synergy between the three monotheistic religions, that believe in the same God and yet, ridiculously have been killing each other for centuries “in the name of God” and turned the holy land into an orphaned land. Naturally we continued this idea of union on a musical level as well and the result is as always crazy, it’s a miracle– in our concerts: our Jewish fans sing in Arabic and our Muslim fans sing in Hebrew, brave friendships have spawned and our Middle Eastern metal music destroys all this political witchcraft we have been trapped in for so long. This is a musical journey of hope in lands of war, creating heaven on earth, building a new Jerusalem.”

 

[Krilons Resa]

jesus fucking christ

 

[Ellestin]

this is totally not acceptable

 

[Vittra]