Category: Live Reviews
Tags: orphaned land, wacken open air 2010

For some reason, the festival’s biggest names all played on the first day. This is kind of convenient, because it left us free on Friday morning to roam the fields, check out the markets for T- shirts and albums (I bought some awesome Cathedral and Electric Wizard T- shirts, along with a cool Rolling Stones bootleg) and get something to eat. It also gave us the opportunity to check out bands that were unknown to us and that we would otherwise miss.

Enter Orphaned Land. My friend (and former GangBang Press member) Dimitris swore by them and really wanted to see them play, so we make our way to the main stage. And he is right. They really are something. Orphaned Land are an Israeli band with a career that spans 20 years (I had no idea). Apparently their new album is a concept piece and the lyrics promote peace between the Arabs and the Jews (Porcupine Tree’s Steven Wilson mixed it). They play heavy metal (often laced with death, doom and prog elements) mixed with middle- eastern influences. The back- and forth between western and non- western music reminds me a bit of System Of A Down or Roots- era Sepultura and the middle eastern element brings to mind Iraq’s Acrassicauda. These are only fleeting, superficial similarities though.

Often, a heavy, crunching riff is followed by amanedhes or chanting in Arabic, Hebrew or English. The lead singer is dressed in a white robe (which- along with his long hair and beard- makes him a dead ringer for Jesus) and keeps an excellent connection with the crowd. He salutes the Greeks and Israelis who are waving flags in the front and asks everyone to jump in the air on time with the music (which they do). At some point, a belly dancer comes out and gyrates to the music. And the late morning crowd loves it. It’s weird to see a crowd of mainly northern Europeans responding to such an eastern sound. It’s even better to see a rock band reclaiming such ethnic influences that have long been associated with crappy pop music (at least in my country) and avoid the kitch factor. And finally, props to the fat, blond dude with the Slayer patch standing next to me, who seemed to dig the music immenselly, proving that metal fans can be extremely open- minded. At some point, the singer says shalom to us and everyone salutes back enthusiastically by raising devil horns in the air. I can’t think of a better example for multiculturalism. The fact that it would horrify fundamentalists everywhere makes it a priceless moment. I ‘ll definitely be paying attention to Orphaned Land in the future.

 (-Dimitris Kontogiannis-)

All photos taken by -manoc- for CnB magazine

About the Author: CnB