Israel's ORPHANED LAND Featured On Cover Of Iranian Rock/Metal Magazine

In what is being described a "an act of incredible bravery, Iranian rock/metal magazine Divan has put Israeli progressive folk metal masters ORPHANED LAND on the cover of its fourth issue. The publication features an eight-page spread on the band, including an interview with singer Kobi Farhi.

The Israeli news site Ynet has published a story on Divan's coverage of ORPHANED LAND. Check it out at this location.

In an interview with Turkey's Hürriyet Daily News & Economic Review, Farhi stated about what it's like to in a land where much blood has been spilled for centuries in name of the three Abrahamic religions, Judaism, Islam and Christianity, "We are living in a very big spiritual darkness. If I put you in a dark room and you are not able to see anything, you would have a lot of questions in your head: 'Where am I?' 'What is this room?' 'Where is the door?' and if I would give you a small match, you could see the whole room. Just with a small amount of light. We believe that in the darkness you would have a lot of questions and in the light you could see more of the answers, more of the truth. We believe that when our inner light is turned on, we understand that we are all one. Turkish, Israeli, Philistine, Arab, whatever. You would see that it is just a big, stupid mistake."

On receiving lots of threats or criticism from both sides of the Middle East struggle over the years:

Farhi: "We never take any side or get involved in politics. I think what we are doing is helping our tragedy in the world, and if you ask me if I am willing to die for our message, I do not want to die, but I do not care if I have to."

On how religious people could learn a lesson from the global metal community as it does not care about ethnic and religious backgrounds:

Farhi: "Just come to see the ORPHANED LAND shows in Turkey. Come to see how ORPHANED LAND sings in Turkish and how sometimes the Turkish fans sing with ORPHANED LAND in Hebrew. A priest, a rabbi or a sheikh: If you do not believe in the utopia ORPHANED LAND can create with its music, if you cannot get along, the metal people can show you how to do it."

On how a lasting peace could occur in the Middle East:

Farhi: "I will say that the only way to open our eyes is music. People tell me, 'You're naïve' and 'You are a dreamer,' but this is a fact. My music creates bridges between nations. I would say we are succeeding where politicians fail."

"[Our fans] are the future. They are liberal, they are open-minded, they do not want to kill you because of your religion. They know religion is about other things than killing each other in the name of God. There is no other way than music to educate ourselves and listen to each other."

(Thanks: Orphaned Disciples)