ORPHANED LAND: 'ORwarriOR' First-Week Sales Revealed

"The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR", the fourth album from Israeli progressive folk metal masters ORPHANED LAND, 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.

ORPHANED LAND celebrated the release of its new album, "The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR", with a special "launch party" on February 4 at the Theatre Club in Tel-Aviv, Israel.

Check out photos of the event at Orphaned-Land.com.

ORPHANED LAND will return to North America this March as direct support to SUIDAKRA. This tour is not to be missed as it's only hitting the following four cities:

March 08 - B.B. King Blues Club & Grill - New York, NY
March 10 - Les Foufounes Electriques - Montreal, QC
March 13 - Wreck Room - Toronto, ON
March 14 - Bottom Lounge - Chicago, IL

"Sapari", the new video from ORPHANED LAND, can be viewed below (courtesy of AOL's Noisecreep).

Commented ORPHANED LAND vocalist Kobi Farhi: "With the video clip, we are trying to reflect this inner search of a man and his spirit. The actor, Matti Atlas, was filmed in a room, sitting in a box, writing scared stuff. This is the exact way they used to sit and write in the old days in Yemen. He is writing… searching. At some point, he starts to freak out; to write on the walls, on his body, getting even possessed in a way. He is alone, confused, searching for answers and meaning, just as we all are.

"Sapari (means 'tell me' in Hebrew) is a 17th-century poem written by Sa'adia ben Amram, a jewish poet who lived in Yemen back then. The song is a duet between the poet and his soul. The poet seeks for his soul and asks her where is 'she.' The soul, described as a dove in the song, answers that she is at the high chamber, heavens, preparing herself to wear the shape of a human body.

"In a way, this song reflects the inner search that every human is going through. We are getting to know our self more and more each and every day, and our journey here is far from being easy."