ORPHANED LAND's KOBI FARHI: 'Living In Israel, I Had Always Dreamt That One Day We Might Be Able To Live In Peace'

In a new interview with Oxygène Radio's "Metal Zone", vocalist Kobi Farhi of Israeli metallers ORPHANED LAND was asked if there are any plans for him and his bandmates to work on a new studio album. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It takes us always a lot of time. We have to consider COVID, and we have to consider the war. We barely have a moment to sit with ourselves on some peace of mind and to understand. But definitely the plan on 2025 is to sit down and concentrate only on the new album. And I believe that we will have something for 2026, but, of course, we need to see. But the plan is after this [fall 2024 European] tour to focus only on the album."

Asked about ORPHANED LAND's influences when it comes to making new music, guitarist Chen Balbus said: "We all take our influences from something different, but I'd say the main idea is the fact that we are from where we are. And it never gets dull in Israel. There's always action. So that kind of thing, besides what we listen to at home, it all intertwines and we just always combine our influences from where it comes from. It could be from something totally Middle Eastern, from something Greek, American, we take all of that into consideration, and once pretty much everything is done in that manner, we can lay it down.I personally can hear every kind of tune and turn it into metal in my head. And I would say that mostly I draw my influences not from metal."

Added Kobi: "To add to what Chen had said, as the one who is responsible for, let's say, the band's message and concepts and lyrics and stuff like that. I am always observing the situation in Israel and the Middle East. That had been always my, let's say glasses, to the creation, to the page.

"It was mainly my dream to succeed and create peace with our music because living in Israel, I had always dreamt that one day we might be able to find a way to live together and to live in peace," he explained. "That was always the thing that moved me to do and write. You can go to many things that we did with the band, not even related to music and lyrics. For example, you can take the fact that I was, I think, probably one of the first musicians, definitely in Israel and maybe in the world, that I put on myself the Arabian Palestinian keffiyeh on 1996 in the photos of our album 'El Norra Alila'. I didn't do it as a pro-Palestinian act or a pro-Israeli act; I did it as an act of wanting to become closer. 'I appreciate you and your culture. I want to be your friend.' Because I believe that the only way for peace is to become friends. I don't think that peace is an agreement, money. Of course you can make peace like that. But I think that in order to live together, we have to learn to be friends. And that's what I was trying to do all my life. Wearing a keffiyeh, writing the lyrics, speaking in Arabic, all those things that I did with ORPHANED LAND was always from that perspective. And it comes to the albums, to the covers, to the photos, to the music, of course, and everything."

ORPHANED LAND released its most recent studio album, "Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs", in 2018.

The band's latest release, "A Heaven You May Create", arrived in December 2023. Celebrating ORPHANED LAND's 30th anniversary, the LP contains the recordings of a very special show that the band played in June 2021 with a symphony of 60 players. The concert took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, which brought the entire world economy to a standstill. A special gap between lockdowns, were the world seemed normal again for a short period of time, allowing ORPHANED LAND to play a special show in "the hall of fame" of Israel, the Heichal HaTarbut in Tel Aviv, with 2,500 people in attendance. The setlist spanned ORPHANED LAND's discography, featuring their most beloved songs.

ORPHANED LAND's music draws from Eastern, Western and Asian influences, and the band is known for its message of peace and unity among Jews, Arabs and Christians. The group's songs are written in Hebrew and English.

ORPHANED LAND opened for METALLICA in 2010 in Israel and toured Europe with Palestinian rock group KHALAS in 2013.

ORPHANED LAND is Farhi, Balbus, Idan Amsalem (guitars),Uri Zelcha (bass),and Matan Shmuely (drums).