Interview: Orphaned Land – Kobi Farhi

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Interview by:  AMS – 2/27/04

Their music is a vibrantly colored soundscape comprised of exotic mid-eastern sounds and instruments, metal and acoustic guitars, unnerving growling vocals coupled with mesmerizing clean enchanted singing, and soul touching lyrics which tell a story – the story of “Mabool”, the great flood.

How often is it that when you open up a cd and put it in the player the first song immediately captures you and sends chills down your spine?  Then after listening to the second, then third songs your soul begins to ache and tears flood your eyes?  This is the effect Orphaned Land’s new record “Mabool” will have on you. By the time you have given the whole album a listen, you will feel as though you have just experienced something that goes beyond merely an aural excursion.  You will feel as though you have just been touched, changed in some way by a force that is stronger than you.  It could be due to the power of the music itself.  It could be because of the powerful story contained within the songs.  Whatever it is that produces this incredible sensation while listening to the music of Orphaned Land, one thing is for certain;  It will stay with you.

Kobi Farhi, vocalist for Orphaned Land calls the Metal Refuge all the way from Israel to talk about their stunning new album, the story behind it, enemies becoming allies, and his hopes for a world wide tour to come soon.

MR: Your Original band name was Resurrection. It was changed to Orphaned Land in 1992. Why was the change made?

Kobi: Well, we started as a very regular death metal band, under the name Resurrection, and it was not that kind of special music that we made, I should say. We showed that before we had nothing to contribute to the metal scene as Resurrection, and we were repeating on death metal that was made ten times better by the Tampa Florida bands and would not make any contribution to the scene.

We decided that we had to change styles. We wanted to start combining our home roots into metal music and to start to do things related to the Middle East which will contribute to the metal scene because the metal scene has always represented by the Tampa bands or like the Swedish/Norwegian/European bands, and actually nothing never came from the Middle East, like big time from the metal scene, and we thought that this would be a nice contribution. So we decided to go on a different direction, and according to that we also changed the concept as well as the bands name into Orphaned Land.

MR: What you said was true about not a lot coming out of the Middle East. I was talking to Tad Morose (Urban Breed) and he was very interested in hearing you guys because I told him you came from Israel and he goes ‘Wow!’ He did not know of anyone else that is metal from that area.

Kobi: Yeah, some people think we still ride on camels. (laughs)

MR: (laughter) You stopped recording around 1996/1997- “due to the harsh reality of your homeland”. What was going on in your life at that time, and what was it like not being able to make your music for so long?

Kobi: Well its like, uh… imagine yourself getting exiled from your home. Imagine yourself getting away from the one that you love, or getting away from your dreams. This was the feeling of not being able to make a normal function with the band during those years. Today when I look back I can definitely say to you that these seven years of silence described by us as the calm before the flood was very necessary for us to bring such a complex or diverse album as a group.

But back then, living these days, it was nightmare because the band is the dream of the band members. This is like the best thing we did with our lives, and not being able to do it was a nightmare, you know? I mean it was not only because of the harsh reality of Israel, even though that was one of the main reasons. We were also very inexperienced kids when we started to release albums that we had some difficult times after the second album, we had some conflicts between the band members and I guess that we did need this period of time in order to get ourselves more mature and much more experienced.

MR: You reunited in 2001 making a few concert showings. How did things change for you and your band that made it possible for you to come back together and start making music once again?

Kobi: Well it was an unbelievable experience, first of all. We did compose music during those years, but it happened came to a stage of not performing for six years, so we started to do rehearsals for the show. On a personal level I had a lot of difficulties on the first rehearsals because, goddamnit I wasn’t growling for six years you know? And I thought that maybe I lost it. Because in the first rehearsals that we had, everybody was like getting glad to play together, was very excited, and only me when I started to growl I felt like… I’m going to die or something. (laughs) So everybody was looking at me you know, with a face like ‘What’s going on’ and I was looking back to them like ‘don’t worry, give me my time, I will be OK.’ But it is a good end to the story and everything got back. I got into shape again. It took me a while, but you know growling got back to me and I think that I even growl better than before today. My vocals were developed through the growling and the normal clean vocals.

MR: The style of music that Orphaned Land creates is very exotic. You pull in sounds from many genres and styles of music. How would you say is the best way to describe your music to fans that have never heard it before?

Kobi: Well I think that the best way to describe it will be maybe to call it a Middle Eastern metal or on the other hand maybe we should call it a non boundaries metal music. Because of the fact that we use several languages, from eastern languages such as Hebrew, Arabic, or Yemen to western languages such as Latin or English, through the right kind of instruments that we use, and all the cultures that we combine together. I think it is some kind of metal that has no limits. It can suddenly get into jazz or fusion, it can get be very oriental, and with all kinds of vocals from progressive metal to black metal. I mean you can definitely find everything in the music of Orphaned Land. It’s a journey, and I think that everyone that appreciates music can get into this album, even if he is not a metal fan.

MR: Do you play any instruments?

Kobi: Um, no, well actually when we perform live in some of the cases I do play in support of the percussion player, I know to play a bit, but I know how to play a bit of guitar or something, but I definitely don’t know to play it professionally.

MR: The choir’s in some of the songs, namely the first track “Birth Of The Three” are very impressive – who are they?

Kobi: First of all the choir on the album do reflect on the story, they do reflect the voice of the angels, and we took the choir called then Moran Choir, and they consist of 15 female singers on the ages of 18-20. They usually perform classical stuff, or requiems for opera. They were really excited with the challenge to sing with a rock and roll band, you know. And I think they did a very good job. The mother of our keyboard player, she wrote all the parts [inaudible] because we recorded them in three voices… the metal, [inaudible]. So it was very hard to rehearse with them and to record them but, uh, overall it was worth it.

MR: Definitely, it provided a beautiful element to the music. And also, who does the outstanding female vocals?

Kobi: The female vocals are done by our vocalist coach Shlomit Levy. Shlomit is our female vocalist since ’98 when we recorded a song for the Paradise Lost tribute. She then came to sing with us and ever since she was with us. She was also singing with us on the acoustic moments CD which will be released with the first releasing of Mabool. She was originally trained from… her parents came from Yemen, and she has a very rare voice, and way of singing. Actually because it was so beautiful in our eyes that on the end of the song “The Kiss of Babylon” we decided to give her the whole space because her voice is so beautiful we felt that any instrument that would be added would destroy the purity of her voice.

MR: In the writing of this music, who makes the first steps, and then how does everyone follow from there?

Kobi: OK, let me explain to you how we compose our albums. We have a strange way of working. I call it the puzzle formula. Because of all the elements that we used, and all the combination of culture that we make in our music, then Orphaned Land must be a concept band. According to that before we start to decide anything, first of all we must find the concept. Once we find the concept we divide it into chapters and once we did it, everyone comes to a session that we make. Everyone brings these ideas and compositions that he wrote, and according to the story and according to the chapters…

For example on the Mabool album, you have The Birth of the Tree, you have a song about the Building of the Arc, you have a song about the Wrath of God. So according to that element we fit, I can hear one of the guitarists riffs, and I can decide ‘Hmm, this one fits with The Wrath of God, and this one fits mostly to the Building of the Arc.’ So we start to build it as a puzzle. No one in the band ever wrote a song, you know? Every one of us brings only riffs and parts as if they were like a part of a puzzle you know? This is the way. We took all the parts, according to the story, and the way that those parts reflect in our mind, and this is how we build the album. And the result is like a whole pictures of a puzzle full of riffs, and this is also one of the ways which makes it very complex, as it is.

MR: The concept for this record – which is “Mabool” – the story of the great flood – had it been stirring within all of you for a while, or did it come to you all once you reunited in 2001 and started playing again? Before or after that?

Kobi: Well actually, the concept hit me five years ago. It was demanded that because we always deal with paradox in our music. If it is combining ancient instruments with actual instruments, or ancient stories reflect into today’s reality. When we thought about Orphaned Land, and why we discovered this name, why we thought about this name… It is in a way a paradox to the promised land and to the Holy land, because if Israel is considered as the Holy land, and if on the Holy Land you have a never ending bloodshed of war in the name of the Holy religion, then if the Holy Land is filled with blood instead of water then definitely this is Orphaned Land. So according to that, we changed the concept that if you eat something, and that something is dirty, you have to wash it. If the land is dirty, nature will flood it. This is the concept which also reflects today’s reality, and also some kind of a paradox about Orphaned Land and Ocean Land, you know which was flooded.

MR: The storyline for the album – or essence of it rather – seems to be the attempt at the pulling together of the three main religions (Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam) for the ultimate life and death cause. Through this record, do you feel you can make a difference and actually encourage acceptance and tolerance amongst these religions so that all can work and live together in peace?

Kobi: Well this is definitely a message of tolerance and harmony for enemies. For example if we took music-wise… if we took ancient instruments and combined them with distorted guitars on any musical terms these instruments are enemies. You know, acoustic instrument is the enemy of electric instrument. But if we found a formula of bringing them together in harmony then we definitely have the message to people to find the harmony with their enemies as well. We feel that if we succeeded music-wise to make such a harmony, and to make a result that is full of prosperity, full of color; we think that if people will succeed making this in their life, they will have a very joyful life. And this is a very important message for people who have enemies all over, and especially for people who are enemies in this region, called Orphaned Land.

MR: Wow, that’s amazing.

Orphaned Land – Mabool [logo]Kobi: And I can also tell you that I was surprised to see a lot of people understood the concept of the band. Especially I was surprised to find that we have a huge fan base in Arab countries. I started to receive mail from Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt, even though that these countries and Israel are considered as enemies. It showed us that people there, even though that they lived in a dictatorial nation, they really understood the concept of the band, and really succeeded in understanding what we say. We also have some true addicted fans in Lebanon, Jordan, and [inaudible] who made a tattoo of Orphaned Land’s logo on their bodies. I was amazed because these countries really don’t have any connection, you know? And music can be so, uh, breaking boundaries, you know? And it was amazing for us. It definitely gave us strength to make music for another decade, I hope, because even [inaudible] people that get a tattoo of Orphaned Land, and they are actually Arabs who live in a country supposed to be as enemy really showed us that our music can really reach and our message is really reaching these people and really creating friendships between enemies, which is very good in our eyes.

MR: Your logo would definitely make an awesome tattoo!

Kobi: Oh yeah definitely! I have this one as well as a tattoo. All the band members did it. I know a few friends of mine from Israel that did it as well. Yeah, this is a nice design for a tattoo. Some people did it without the band name; just took the design with the wings and the woman on the stick and did it as a tattoo.

MR: While listening to this music on Mabool, I get the chills – goose bumps, and then some of the songs actually bring tears to my eyes while listening to them. It is not only the lyrics, it is the combination of sounds, and the way it is all masterfully pulled together that creates such a mood for me. Since this is the first release I have from Orphaned Land, can we expect some of the same in your past works?

Kobi: Well first of all, it is very exciting for me to hear that this is what you’ve been through listening to our music, because this was the same for us. Creating this music and recording this was involved with a lot of goose bumps, and I can admit that it was more than once that I was crying while creating and working on this album. Also most of the reactions in our forum in the last couple of days, because the album was released in Israel two days ago, are the same. People actually write that they listen to the album and cry. It is very exciting because to see that we succeeded on making… It says to us that we succeeded. This is what we wanted. We wanted people to look at themselves and to be able to be excited about it.

So I think that the previous releases are very exciting as well. I had the same experience with them when we did them. I think that Mabool is the masterpiece of Orphaned Land, but I definitely think that you can be… you can get excited for the previous released because this is the Orphaned Land spirit for sure. Maybe the production would be a bit uh… not that good as Mabool, or the playing would not be as professional as we are today because after all, seven years have passed, but you can definitely find them very interesting if you liked Mabool.

MR: Are you a religious man? Do you actively practice your faith?

Kobi: Well, I am not a religious person in any so called society definition. I do have my own way of believing in this, lets call it [inaudible], and I do practice, and accomplish it by all of the things that we do with Orphaned Land. This definitely has to do with my way to Heaven, so I’m not going and praying at synagogue or something like that. I don’t do all the ceremony as a normal religious person. I have my own way of doing it, I definitely have a belief, and I think that by doing the music, and by singing this, this is the way that I practice it.

MR: On the released version of Mabool, there are going to be some songs you did live that is all acoustic. Will you do an acoustic set again live? Perhaps in the United States where I am sure you are planning on coming very soon?

Kobi: Definitely we hope to tour the world. If it was up to me I would live in a bus, and we definitely hope to make a few concept shows. We want to have of course the regular metal show, and we want to also continue to make an acoustic show. Which is like another very interesting side of the band. I think that the show that we will have for the moment would be the more metallic show, but hopefully in the future we would make another acoustic release, and have some acoustic tour as well. It was a very nice experience for us to go on stage for the first time and sit on a chair, you know? It was very strange, but very interesting as well.

MR: Do you have any touring plans for the upcoming year?

Kobi: Not yet, because nothing was confirmed yet because Orphaned Land sort of came back from the dead. For example if Nevermore is releasing a new album, so everybody already knows Nevermore and they are very big and justify having the releasing of the album, they can close dates. But when it comes to Orphaned Land the band is like coming back from the dead, a lot of people can react like ‘Orphaned What?’ (laughter) So we still should get some hype around the band, but I think that once the album is released and some interviews are published, then maybe a demand to the band will be created and definitely we cant wait to come and have some shows it the US.

MR: Who do you see yourself touring with?

Kobi: Well I can definitely see us touring with Nevermore or Lacuna Coil, or Moonspell, or Opeth.

MR: Is there anything else you would like to add? Any shout outs?

Kobi: Well I would like to say to the fans that do know us from the early days that we are very thankful for their patience. And to the fans that just got familiar with us, I would like to greet them and I hope that we can meet them very soon, and I hope they would enjoy Mabool, and we’ll make some noise to bring us over there to play live, and I want to say thank you to you for your support through everything.

Kobi was extremely patient and kind throughout the entire interview which was plagued by a terrbile echo that we could not rectify.  Orphaned Land’s “Mabool” is extremely highly recommended for anyone  – not only fans of music from bands such as Opeth, Moonspell, Tiamat, and Into Eternity among others, but fans of deeply soul shaking metal music as a whole.

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