During an interview with Channel 10's London and Kirschenbaum, Kobi Farhi, the band's lead singer, offered the fascinating information that some of Orphaned Land's biggest fans are located in countries such as Lebanon, Jordan and Dubai. The band members have received emails along the lines of "who cares about politics, I love your music and your message," and many have tatooed the group's name on their arms - as they were pleased to show during Orphaned Land's recent concert in Istanbul, which was attended by fans from all over the Arab world.
The group performed one of the songs from "Mabool" following the interview, and it was actually quite...beautiful. It combined elements of metal and traditional Middle Eastern music, with an oud player and stunning vocals by a Yemenite woman with a soaring soprano added to the mix of electric guitars and keyboard. This combination of traditional metal music with "Oriental" elements is one of Orphaned Land's defining characteristics.
Since Orphaned Land's CDs cannot be sold in most Arab countries, due to the group's provenance, fans download the music from the Internet - with the band's full knowledge and approval, since they believe it's more important to spread their message of bridge building than make big bucks. Listening to Farhi speak, I was really touched by his obvious modesty and pleased but calm acceptance of the group's success in the Arab world. Rather than criticizing the countries that forbid the sale of his group's music, he expressed quiet pleasure at Orphaned Land's popularity among Arab metal fans.
In one of the interviews I linked to above, Orphaned Land guitarist Matti Svatitzki has this to say about his music and its popularity among Arab metal fans:
The bridge was not built by Orphaned Land, the bridge was always there and we only had to cross it. The bridge is called "music", and many before us had used it, in order to carry messages from one bank to another.
All the political problems are only minor, from where I see it. People tend to occupy themselves with these minor issues too much, way more than is really needed. I think that the fact that a language between Israelis and Arabs do exist, is much more fascinating and interesting than all these other political facts, which, by the way, bore me to death.
Our music was very successful in Arab countries, though I've heard that in some places prohibitions were put on young people who were listening to us. The Arab scales and instruments, but not only, have helped us find a path into the hearts of many listeners in Arab countries. This fact amazes me, I am thrilled each time I think of it or hear from a new fan coming from these countries. I think that much courage is needed from their side, and also from ours, and that we all make living examples of how adult people should behave, live and think."
