Music
ALBUM REVIEW: ORPHANED LAND’s The Neverending Way of ORwarriOR
Late last year, while in Israel, I was fortunate enough to interview Orphaned Land and then stick around to see them in action at a concert in Tel Aviv. It was a great experience and I walked away feeling very excited for the follow up to the 2004 album, Mabool. And now, The Neverending Way of ORwarriOR is finally out.
The first thing I noticed was the incredible rise in production value. While Mabool was an amazing album that was a musical journey, the sound quality was often a bit painful and piercing. But not on The Neverending Way of ORwarriOR. With Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Opeth, No-Man) behind the mixing board, the overall sound quality rose dramatically. Each instrument is clearly definable and the subtle ambiences are beautifully placed in the mix.
Opening up with “Sapari”, Orphaned Land lays out EXACTLY what it plans to present you with over the rest of the album: Strange rhythms, singing in multiple languages, epic melodies and one hell of a rocking attitude. The contrasting timbres of female singer Shlomit Levi versus male singer Kobi Farhi create rich vocal harmonies that sound larger than just the two of them.
The production holds through the rest of the album and, man, the rest is one hell of a trip. There are so many changes musically that I almost felt like I needed to take notes. On top of that, the album lasts almost the full 80-minutes that a CD offers and the average track length is around five or six minutes. As a result, it is really hard to get through this album. The constant musical changes are often so surprising as to be worthy of a good head scratching. The complex and intricate instrument layering is so elaborate; it’s like trying to untie a knot that always presents more knots.
But let me be very clear here: The Neverending Way of ORwarriOR is a great album. However, it is completely exhausting to listen to. The band advertised this album as a musical journey and they did not lie one bit. By the end of the album, I was unable to listen to music for about an hour because I needed a break. I say this not feeling upset about it. Rather, I think it’s a testament to how deep and intelligent this album is. But try and get through it in one go through.
AMC has announced that The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE, the standing-room-only performance celebrating AMC’s premiere of its newly-released The Vampire Lestat at New York City’s iconic Beacon Theatre last month, will debut on streaming.
The Vampire Lestat: One Night Only LIVE begins streaming on AMC+ on August 23.
Ahead of its streaming premiere, fans can preview the concert event, featuring original songs from series composer Daniel Hart and performed by Sam Reid, in Hall H at Comic Con International on July 24.
Our own Daniel Kurland attended the special event, highlighting how electric the Immortal Vampire is on stage: “It’s clear in this season of television that Reid was born to be a rock star, but it’s surreal to see him effortlessly command the stage — and the audience — at every step of the concert. He recites Shakespeare monologues and bitches out Armand between songs, all while the audience screams in support. For the duration of this concert, Reid is Lestat, and he’s given thousands of fans a memory that’s as immortal as any vampire.”
Based on Anne Rice‘s The Vampire Chronicles book series, The Vampire Lestat is the rock and roll-centric third season of AMC’s “Interview with the Vampire” created by showrunner Rolin Jones.
The Vampire Lestat goes on an electric multi-city tour while being haunted by “muses” from his wild and rebellious past. As his band’s popularity and star power rises, so does Lestat’s influence over vampires and humans alike, leaving others to contend with Lestat’s power in the face of the Great Conversion, an unnatural surge in the vampire population.
Jacob Anderson, Assad Zaman, Eric Bogosian, Delainey Hayles and Jennifer Ehle star with Reid. Executive producers include Jones, Mark Johnson, Hannah Moscovitch, the late Anne Rice, and her son Christopher Rice.
The series finale airs this Sunday, July 19, on AMC and AMC+.