The Crow I am sure that All is One was a difficult album to make for Orphaned Land... Moreover, the music shows the band's problems at the time.

Avi Diamond, their drummer in their two previous (and excellent) albums did not return this time, along with their female (and great) singer Shlomit Levi. The founder guitarist Matti Svatitzki also left the band in 2012, and the main guitarist Yoshi Sassi also gave up shortly after the releasing of All is One, being this album his less inspired work.

The result is a disjointed and irregular record, which sounds like a mixture between the epic Mabool and the more intimate and folk ORwarriOR, but without reaching the quality of none of them and showing a worrying inability to bring anything new to the band's career.

Been there, done that feeling the whole time.

The production is fine, and the sound of the album is more orchestral than ever with violins sounding all the time. However, they cannot hide the lack of inspiration (or energy) that this album has with exceptions as the energetic All is One, the beautiful Brother and the epic Our Own Messiah.

Best Tracks: All is One (splendid opener), Brother (the best lyrics of the album), Our Own Messiah (a song which almost achieve to retrieve the magic of ORwarriOR)

Conclusion: All Is One was the reflection of the problems and line-up changes of this great band at the time. I has its good moments and a pair of fine additions to the band's classic song list, but after a the seond or third listening it turns out to be boring, repetitive and not challenging at all, being a clear step back in Orphaned Land's career.

I almost lost my faith in the band with All is One... Fortunately, this would change in 2018 with the release of Unsung Prophets and Dead Messiahs!

My rating: **

P.S.: this review was originally written for ProgArchives.com

Kev Rowland There is no doubt that Orphaned Land are one of the most important bands in the world today, in the way that they are working hard at bringing together different people and religions who are often at war with each other. “I could never imagine in my wildest imagination that one day an Israeli band would be followed by thousands of Muslims from all over the world,” says frontman Kobi Farhi, noting that Orphaned Land are the proud recipients of four Peace Awards issued by their Turkish brethren. “If we do a show in Istanbul, Turkey - which is the only Muslim country where we’re allowed to play - people come all the way from Iran, Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan just to see us. These are enemies that are fighting each other coming to see us as one group of people. I’d say that historically the Jews and Arabs are brothers because we are all descendants of Abraham, but the conflict and the differences are so big that we’ve forgotten that. Discovering the fact that our music is the instrument to remind people that we are all one is shocking to me. I never imagined that blood enemies would open their eyes because of it. That’s why the title of the album is ‘All Is One’.” The album was mixed by Jens Bogren (Kreator, Amon Amarth, James LaBrie, Devin Townsend Project, Opeth) and was recorded in three different countries: Israel, Turkey and Sweden. Ironically, these are countries that are Jewish, Muslim and Christian respectively, which strengthens the Orphaned Land message of unity through music. Over 40 musicians were used to flesh out the sound, including 25 choir singers and eight classical violin, viola and cello players from Turkey. When one studies the artwork, one sees that it is comprised of the symbols of Islam, Judaism and Christianity. But, all of their work would be of no use if the music wasn’t worth hearing, so what is it like?

First off it is virtually impossible to describe, although they often remind me of System of a Down for some reason, as they mix metal with folk, then add in elements from symphonic and power, plus death and plenty of traditional sounds from Israel. I don’t know much about Jewish music, but can hear elements that I recognise immediately. It is this flux and change of styles that make this band musically so interesting. I first became interested in Orphaned Land when I read about ‘The Never Ending Way Of ORWarriOR’ (which was produced by Steven Wilson), and knew that I had to grab a copy for myself and when I heard it I was just blown away. But, this new album is a step change, as they have moved far beyond what they have produced previously. This is progressive metal in the truest sense, as it is creating something that is mixing and blending from so many different styles and cultures to create something that is new and exciting, yet is always accessible and dynamic.

I fell in love with this album the very first time I played it, and repeated listens have only reinforced my view that this is truly essential. www.centurymedia.com