Orphaned Land - All is One (2013)

After 2010's spectacular Orwarrior, my expectations for Orphaned Land's fifth album were incredibly high, and I'm happy to say that by and large they have been met. All is One goes in a somewhat different direction than Orwarrior in terms of scaling back the heaviness and growls and relying heavily on orchestration. The orchestration, for me, is the real highlight of this album as it's done so beautifully and forms such an integral part of the music that you couldn't imagine it not being there. It's a bit disappointing that Shlomit Levi isn't featured on this album, but the female singer who is present here as well as the choir are quite good in their own way. As for the songs, the title track shows the band band at their most progressive and is one of my favorites from the album. "Brother" is a gorgeous, emotional ballad that is one of the best songs they've ever written. "Children," the epic album closer, is another highlight of the album and seems to summarize everything that came before it. In all, even though this album doesn't quite live up to Orwarrior or Mabool, it's still an amazing accomplishment for the band and demonstrates yet again that Orphaned Land are the cream of the crop when it comes to Middle Eastern metal. All is One is their most emotional album yet and if you're already a fan or are just gettting into the band then you won't be disappointed.
9.25/10