Interview By Robin Stryker

 

Clocking in at a CD-busting 78 minutes, “The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR” is the new concept album by Israeli band, Orphaned Land, which combines elements of progressive, folk and extreme metal with traditional Middle Eastern instruments and rhythms. Early reviews have already hailed it as a masterpiece and a work of breathtaking beauty. Orphaned Land guitarist, Matti Svatizky, sat down with Femme Metal to talk about the new album, share his thoughts on metal as a bridge of peace, and explain what in the world a bouzouki is. (And, no, it’s not a weapon of mass destruction.)

Welcome Matti, and thank you for taking time out from Orphaned Land’s busy tour schedule!

Hey Robin, sure, my pleasure. Orphaned Land’s schedule isn’t easy these days, but we do take the time to keep in touch with our fans, so they’ll know what is going on with us, and so we can share with them some insights of what we’re doing.

Steve Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Opeth), who produced and provided keyboards on “The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR”, described Orphaned Land as “what Opeth might sound like if they had come from the Middle East instead of Scandinavia.” For newcomers to Orphaned Land, is this a pretty good description of the band’s sound?

Well first of all, to be precise, Steven didn’t actually produce the album, but mixed it (and did the keyboards like you mentioned).Comparing us to Opeth is a big compliment, we are great fans of theirs. I think that there are many mutual lines between both bands. I think that the philosophy behind the music of both bands is very similar, we both play quite complex music and a lot of what works for them could work for us and I think it goes both ways around. There are many metal bands in Israel, but none of them combine the Middle Eastern elements in their music like us. Therefore, if Opeth were an Israeli band, I’m not sure that they would come to playing exactly our style, but in everything that revolves the Middle Eastern sounds -- all the complex and interesting riffs, avant-garde sound and etc. -- there’s a lot in common.

ORwarriOR means the Warrior of Light (“or” being the Hebrew word for light). Who is the Warrior of Light?

The warrior of light is an expression which can describe any one of us. The war between light and darkness is something that each of one of us experiences in our everyday lives, and the warrior of light is each one of us who chooses the path of light over the path of darkness.

The narrative arc of “The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR” is divided into three chapters: Part I: Godfrey's Cordial - An ORphan's Life; Part II: Lips Acquire Stains - The WarriOR Awakens; and Part III: Barakah - Enlightening The Cimmerian. Can you give us an overview of the Warrior’s journey from one chapter to the next?

Sure. The first part speaks about the birth of the warrior of light, and his life as an ordinary person. The second part speaks of the warrior’s "enlightenment", that means the phase in which he realizes he is a warrior who fights a battle of light and darkness. The third part speaks about the warrior’s bringing the word of wisdom to other people, and about something of a global war between light and darkness.

I was intrigued by references in the chapter titles to Godfrey’s Cordial (18th century opium-based quack remedy for children), Sapho’s juice (mystical liquid, said to enhance mental powers), and barakah (a flow of grace). What do an opiate, a mystical potion, and a spiritual gift represent?

Well, since you put it that way, I guess that there is a lot in common between drugs and spiritual experiences, though this is not quite what was meant when those phrases were used in the album. In the album those phrases were used in a more naïve way. Godfrey’s Cordial was used at Orphanages in order to calm down children, and in the album it is the title of the part where the warrior is born, in order to emphasise the fact that there is birth and childhood involved. "Barakah" means something like "a blessing" in Arabic. But I do agree that materials, which manipulate processes which occur in the brain, lead people who experience them to encounter experiences which they might think to be spiritual experiences, by all means.

You, Kobi Farhi (vocals), Yossi Sa’aron (lead guitar) and Uri Zelcha (bass) formed the band when you were teenagers, and released "Sahara" while still in high school. How have the core members of Orphaned Land managed to stay together despite the challenges of adulthood, long periods between albums, and outside commitments?

It is not easy, if that’s what you’re asking. After our second album, "El Norra Alila" we were very close to splitting. We were about 18 years old, we were not sure if metal was our thing anymore, and we looked for different directions. We haven’t played at all together for 2 or 3 years, Yossi got married, we all found different jobs, and personally I thought that “that’s it,” but then a proposition came to play in Turkey which made us re-build the project, and since then we have been playing together almost 10 straight years, out of the 18 the band has existed all in all. We know each other very well by now, we sometimes joke that we know each other better than our own mothers know us, and that will probably be true. There are lots of ups and downs, lots of other commitments, but music is the thing which is always in the center of our lives and will always find its way to rule.

Please tell us about creating the new album and what each person’s contribution to the creative process was.

Yossi composes most of the riffs, though I composed a little bit too. We write the riffs, and then sit together and build the songs. All four of us throw in ideas, filter some of the stuff out, until the songs are in a form we all agree with. Then we start to work with a drummer and naturally everything changes, new ideas come, parts fall off, and then we enter the studio and record. In the studio we usually have lots of work, Yossi usually works with the session musicians (violins, flutes etc.) and new ideas come there also.

In previous interviews, you talked about the hundreds of pages of research you gathered for the "Mabool" album (2004). How does "The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR" compare?

In "Mabool" lots of research has been done since we discovered that the flood story is multicultural, and it was important for us to know all of these stories in order to form our new story of it. In this album, lots of research had to be made as well, since there is lots of spiritual content which was borrowed from lots of cultures. We borrow stuff from the Quran, and we also sing in many languages which are foreign to us (Arabic, Yemenite, Turkish and more).

 

Why did you bring on Steve Wilson to produce this album, and what do you think of the results?

Like I said, he didn’t produce the album in the end, only mixed it and played keyboards. He was supposed to produce it – we already sat down with him and started to build a work plan but there were many delays in our work due to personal reasons of ours, so Steven had to politely say that it is literally taking us a little bit too long and he is a very busy guy, so we had to postpone him producing our album to some point in the future and settle with him doing a smaller part. We are very pleased with the outcome. Steven is a super talented guy and everything he touches turns to gold. We can’t wait to have the chance to work with him again in the future.

Many people will be unfamiliar with the exotic instruments used on "The Never Ending Way of ORwarriOR" -- like the bouzouki, saz, santur and cumbus. What are they?

Basically they are traditional instrument from different cultures. Buzuky is a guitar-like Greek instrument, Santur is an Indian instrument, saz is a Turkish "guitar" and cumbus is also a Turkish instrument with strings. Yossi plays all those instruments in the album, and we use them in order to bring the Middle Eastern flavour into the music. We also use Arabic flutes and violins on this album to enhance the experience.

In addition to traditional Middle Eastern instruments, the album includes ravishing female vocals by Shlomit Levi. Can you tell us a bit more about her?

I thank you on her behalf for the compliment. We first met Shlomit around twelve years ago. We were recording a Paradise Lost cover in a studio and she was the sound engineer’s girlfriend. He saw that we are looking for a female singer and recommended her. We heard her and she was exactly what we were looking for. She has a great voice, and she’s also into traditional singing. Her family’s roots are in Yemen and she specializes in Yemen singing and that worked for us perfectly. Since then she is with us in albums and shows, the crowd loves her (and we do too, naturally), and she’s great fun to work with.

The track "Sapari" is a 17th century traditional Yemenite song that has already received airplay and is the first video from the album. Why did Orphaned Land choose "Sapari" as its first single?

"Sapari" is also the first song in the album and I think that it is also the most communicative song in the album. Many other songs are at least as good, but also more complicated and hard to digest. It was obvious to us that "Sapari" comes out very good, and that people may get connected to it faster than to other songs, even though the song is not in English and most of the other songs are.

The band has previously discussed its dream of a utopia where Orphaned Land plays as a celebratory band. In what way do you think music can bring Israel and its Arab neighbors closer to the heaven on earth you envision?

I think that people are people, and one of the major causes for wars and mistrust is the fact that people have forgotten this. All we know about the side we are fighting with is rumors that we hear from other people and the media. We always hear how the other side hates us and wants us dead but the truth is that most people in the other side just want to live peacefully. Here music can get in, in order to deliver the message. We have a lot of Arab fans that look differently at Israelis because of our message. They know that there are lots of Israelis who want peace. Peace in the Middle East is something complicated. It is not something which will come out only from nice songs and good intentions. There are hard compromises which have to be made on both sides but good intentions are a good start and we are happy if we can do something, as small as it may be, in order to get there.

In his book, "Heavy Metal Islam", Mark Levine called Orphaned Land, which has a passionate Muslim and Arab following, the most influential metal band in the Middle East. Given the harsh restrictions imposed by many countries, what is the most touching way that Orphaned Land’s fans have shown their appreciation for your music?

There have been many gestures our Arab fans did in order to show their affections. Let’s start with the fact that, in some countries, it is very brave even to own our CD. In some countries you can even go to jail for it and we know of a story of an Egyptian fan of ours who was arrested for owning "El Norra Alila". We have photos of Arab fans who tattooed our logo and this is a great sign of affection. We constantly meet Arab fans at festivals we perform at abroad, some of them are from countries like Iran and incidents like these makes all the hard work worthwhile, and remind us too that building bridges between nations is something which is possible.

What can we look forward to from Orphaned Land in 2010?

Among other things, we are playing at Wacken Open Air this year. It is our second show there, and we are going to play the big stage this time (Black Stage). Then we have few other festivals in August, among them Summer Breeze in Germany. Then, in the beginning of September, we are going on a one month tour with Katatonia in the US and Canada. After this, we have a European tour with Amorphis in November. Like you see, it is a busy year, but we are enjoying the shows very much, meeting lots of great people and we enjoy the music, which is the most important thing.

Do you have any final words for your fans?

Thanks a lot for sticking with us and giving us the chance time after time. We are probably going to have a show near you soon, so we will be glad to see you there and rock out. We are also starting to work on some new stuff so you guys won’t have to wait for so long this time. Cheers, see ya.

Thank you, Matti. All the best to you from your friends at Femme Metal, who also share in the dream of a more peaceful world through metal.

Thanks guys, peace will come upon us sooner or later, there is no other way. Matti.

 

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Links

Matti Svatizky Official Profile

Orphaned Land Official MySpace

Orphaned Land Official Site

 

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