ORPHANED LAND Frontman: Opening For METALLICA 'Was Such A Night To Remember'

On May 22, Israeli progressive folk metal masters ORPHANED LAND performed at the Ramat Gan stadium in Tel Aviv as the support act for METALLICA.

Commented vocalist Kobi Farhi: "It was 17 years ago, in 1993, when I saw METALLICA for the first time. There were barely any metal concerts of foreign bands in Israel that time. I still remember that day; I was 17 years old only. The moment where they played 'Fade To Black' is for sure the highlight moment of my youth. Time went by and here we are, finding ourselves sharing the stage with the fathers of metal.

"ORPHANED LAND exist for 18 years now, we accomplished some success ourselves and toured the world. Still, I cannot remember when I was excited like that. The fact that we even had a small chat with the METALLICA members is a moment to remember. I know that they are just humans, but they are our childhood heroes!

"This was such a night to remember and a great closure to this youth moment I had with METALLICA.

"Unfortunately, we saw only six songs from the amazing METALLICA concert and then we had to run to the airport to catch a flight to play at the equally fantastic Rock Hard festival in Germany.

"We arrived on Sunday at an amazing venue, a sunny day and a rare atmosphere, some kind of a big metallic family gathering. The fans were great, we also met many friends who came, everyone was red like a tomato (from the sun) and the show was one hell of a party.

"Thank you, METALLICA!!! Thank you, Rock Hard fest!!"

Video footage of Kobi Farhi and Yossi Sa'aron (Sassi) (guitar) of ORPHANED LAND talking about their May 22, 2010 concert at the Ramat Gan stadium in Tel Aviv as the support act for METALLICA can be viewed below (courtesy of Orphaned Disciples).

ORPHANED LAND's new album, "The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR", sold around 600 copies in the United States in its first week of release. The CD landed at No. 80 on the Top New Artist Albums (Heatseekers) chart, which lists the best-selling albums by new and developing artists, defined as those who have never appeared in the Top 100 of The Billboard 200.

"The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR" was released in Europe on January 25. Mixed by Steven Wilson (PORCUPINE TREE, OPETH),who is also responsible for several keyboard parts on the new CD, the effort — which was made available in the U.S. on February 9 via Century Media Records — is a sophisticated concept album which takes ORPHANED LAND's unique brand of exotic, heavy music to soaring new heights in terms of complexity and catchiness.

The CD's artwork was created by Zen Two and Native.