Orphaned Land - All Is One - review
Orphaned Land - All Is One - review
Tracklist
Disc I01. All Is One
02. The Simple Man
03. Brother
04. Let The Truce Be Known
05. Through Fire And Water
06. Fail
07. Freedom
08. Shama'im
09. Ya Benaye
10. Our Own Messiah
11. Children
12. As I Stare At The Ocean Alone [Limited edition bonus]
13. All Is One [Turkish version] [Limited edition bonus]
14. Children [Arabic chorus version] [Limited edition bonus]
Disc II [Limited edition DVD]
01. Documentary - Creating "All Is One"
02. Studio Clips
1 - Brother
2 - Freedom
03. Art Clips
1 - In Thy Never Ending Way
2 - Vayehi Or
3 - M I?
4 - Bereft In The Abyss
A review by
R'Vannith August 20, 2013
Peace and a unity in all things is the message they seek to spread and the music of All Is One reflects this with poise and stringent purpose. The album forgoes complexity for a simpler approach and one which more directly engages its audience as all of the compositional components are closely aligned. The sound is tight, the track lengths more concise and any semblance of their death/folk heritage which formed an element in the band's previous releases, albeit one receiving reduced significance over time, has been forgotten in favour of a streamlined focus on melody and vocal delivery.
The dominant orchestra and the folk elements are matched and mixed together to produce a considerably different interpretation of their own sound. I find the record's symphonic to folk interplay is best displayed in tracks such as "Brother" which blend the two expertly effectively making them one and the same, or "Through Fire And Water" and the lengthier closer "Children" which shift from orchestral to folk instrumentation with ease. The vocal work which is granted particular attention is mostly of the clean variety and delivered with an obvious passion which can be heard in such songs as "Fail" which, with much fervor, questions "Why do we fail to see? And why in this jail are we?"
The folk instrumentation carries less of its own weight in the strength gained in its union with the orchestra. It isn't granted the same freedoms or breathing space as on prior albums and consequently doesn't reach the levels of creativity such as that achieved with Mabool. On the other hand the disparate nature of that record isn't to be found here, which may make All Is One a less fascinating listen but it is granted a core solidarity from its well produced sound.
All Is One is Orphaned Land's most accessible album to date and such is befitting the urgency with which they seek to convey their message via music. They are very upfront about it as reflected in the lyrics which clearly convey their intended meaning. The musical approach is direct and carries the band's unique oriental sound in a melodically appealing record.
Rating breakdown
| Performance: | 8 |
| Songwriting: | 7 |
| Originality: | 7 |
| Production: | 9 |
Comments
Comments:
9
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Posts: 178  |
Posts: 178
Awesome review as usual. I've heard about these guys quite a bit but never got around to checking them out. Would this album be a good starting point?
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Posts: 107  |
Posts: 107 Written by Saiyanity on 20.08.2013 at 13:57 New Orphaned Land sounds different from the Orphaned Land fans fell in love with, so this album's not the best place to start. Mabool is one of the best metal albums of all time, and Orphaned Land's best, so start with that.  Then check out The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR. Plenty of beautiful songs all over that album as well.All Is One is not their best work, but lyrically, it's fantastic. Let The Truce Be Known is one of the best songs they've ever written.
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Posts: 673
'Accessible' is the best way to describe All Is One. Review and rating is spot on.
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Posts: 3099 Written by Saiyanity on 20.08.2013 at 13:57 As Mechaniacal said if you want to head straight for their best Mabool is where it's at I think. Though this one isn't as interesting to me in comparison I think you'll have a tough time disliking All Is One.
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Posts: 178 |
Posts: 178 Written by Mechaniacal on 20.08.2013 at 16:18 Gotcha, thanks  I'll put that on my "to listen to" list.
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Posts: 38
What this album is, is simplicity itself. With strong focus on personal feelings and with that, a straight forward meaning. I think this album was much necessary for them, as the latter album extracted more on the progressive side of things, and probably left out a lot of emotions. A focused intent often does that, given the 6 years they made Orwarrior. This is them bleeding out, sort of a let out. These guys have already showed the world what they can do, so a little "mainstream" from them won't hurt at all, because they know how to DO IT prior the garbage found elsewhere. Fantastic production quality, the oriental tone is even more present here I think...more of a classic vibe is what binds this album imo
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Posts: 1342 Written by Almagest on 01.09.2013 at 12:44 I agree 100% on everything you stated above.
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