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"Thus, every living creature that was on the face of the ground was wiped out, from man to livestock, to reptiles, and to the birds of the heavens; they were wiped out from the earth, and only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark. The waters dominated the earth for one hundred fifty days." Genesis 7:23-24.
Mabool is a concept album about the great flood, about the lion, the eagle, and the serpent that metaphorically represent the three monotheistic religions which, in continuous conflict with each other, will suffer the terrible wrath of the Lord that will culminate in the great flood.
From the very first notes, the album offers a clear and unmistakable artistic and production maturity of the Israeli musicians.
The foundation of this monumental work (... because it is fitting to call it a work) is heavy metal straddling between the classical and prog, but it develops throughout its duration stylistic solutions that vary between Middle Eastern folk, classical, doom, and death metal, without any fear of getting dirty or losing its essence with genres that seemingly have nothing to do with one another.
And yet here is the marvel, the black pearl that you would never expect when opening the shell.
Use of alternative instruments (oud, saz, bouzouki, qanun, violins, about ten percussion and more), inserts of children's choir and Middle Eastern cultural chants, guitars and keyboards that, in their almost perfect amalgam, owe nothing to masters like Dream Theater or Opeth, and the voice of singer Kobi Farhi at times exuding putrescence in an acidic growl that is terrifying and in other parts of the album so powerful and clean it rises to tones of sumptuous and majestic epicness. The lyrics sung in a Babel of languages including Latin, English, Arabic, and Yemeni add a touch of antiquity and mystery.
Birth Of The Tree - The Unification is an opening track that leaves you bewildered, terrified, and fascinated. Its extremely complex structure and the ingredients mentioned above make it, in my opinion, a sort of banner and flag of the band.
The second track, as well as the single and video (no less!), "Ocean Land (The Revelation)" mirrors already simpler instrumental lines, yet remains at incredibly high levels for compositional freshness and sound blend between the West and the East.
There’s no stop in this crucible of strong emotions and exquisite musical techniques, and "Halo Dies (The Wrath of God)" and "A Call to Awake (The Quest)" conclude the first part of real sonic authority, then give way to an acoustic interlude ("Building the Ark")—poetic and refined—with a male and female vocal duet that sends an intense shiver up your spine from the first to the last vertebra.
Particularly folk-influenced and traditional "Norra el norra" develops on an extremely angry riff, giving way to tribal rhythms surrounded by a classical grand piano towards the song's end, which should be counted as one of the most fascinating interpretations in metal history.
The album concludes with the title track "Mabool (The Flood)", "The Storm Still Rages Inside" and "Rainbow - The Resurrection", three songs that could seamlessly be considered as a single 20-minute suite, a worthy final chapter that concludes with a startling perfection leaving us a bit surprised and a bit confused.
There are no other words except to tell you to make this album full of pathos and pristine class yours, put it on your CD player and listen in awe, just as if the great flood with its power of water was engulfing and leaving you under cubic meters of water.
The storm still rages...
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 The Evil Urge (03:28)
And I see that slowly your tears are drying
And I see an ocean made by your crying
And the ocean that's within...
And I see misery to forget it I must
And all of the memories are lost
And the ocean is here within me
Flows on like a neverending tear
In us all there are two separate sides
That which is evil and that which is good
Some people live by one side and others by the second
Both of them have a little bit of the other
But it must remain clear that the two depend on each other
Remember, evil is a part of the good and not the opposite
There is no sadness without joy and there is no joy without pain
There is no holy without impure and there can be no blasphemy without
holyness,
Thus the two sides must live in harmony
Unbalanced forever the evil urge brought lots of pain
It is so hard to defeat it
The evil urge sometimes arrives with heavy boots
And sometimes in gentle cat's steps
And even through blessed deeds it can drive you into deeds of wrong
A here is the one which concurs his urge
And so we must wonder what shall be the faith of the man who destroys one
and embraces the other...
The storm still rages...
02 A Neverending Way (03:14)
When summer's gone and winter's past
It seems like a neverending way
And thinking of what I have to say
It seems like a neverending way
I am within you now, with my sinful cry
I am within you, now one am I
Perish the love, perish your love
When the sunfilled summer comes to love
It seems like a neverending way
It comes to us like a snow-white dove
It seems like a neverending way
I am within you now with my lonely cry
I am within you now 'till the time we die
I am within you now 'till the time we perish the love
Perish your love
03 Mercy (03:46)
[Limited Edition Bonus Acoustic Live CD. Paradise Lost cover]
You live for times of solace
Within a sign there's a promise,
Don't lose all faith cause you shake at night
It's in the art of the process.
In another rhyme beyond this place.
The healing's fast enough...
Done a thousand times a thousand ways until
You've had enough...
It's mercy you're asking for cheating life
By taking more it's mercy you're asking for
Take my life or give me more...
The loss of prize possession to cure the mind's obsession
Could trade your soul for that normal life
Elite to all objections...
See beyond all tears and broken years your senses giving
Up lose all confidence at your expense your courage swallows up
04 The Beloved's Cry (06:42)
My heart flies on her wings
Now I'm crying, the moon so red
Tomorrow shall be yet another hell
To the sun, (the) sky's soul is fed
Blows pass me
(I'm) down them I do not feel
Anything except the shadow is real
Why did she do it ? Why did she die ?
How could she leave without saying goodbye ?
She has proven my life to be just a lie
When sea waves crush they hit me hard
But I do not feel them
And then reality is no more real to me
I ask myself, should I end it now
And join her at last ?
I miss the cold embrace of lust
There's nothing left, just a dust
Nothing is left from my dearest love
05 The Orphaned's Medley: My Requiem / Seasons Unite / Of Temptation Born / Orphaned Land, the Storm Still Rages Inside / Like Fire to Water / Flawless Belief / Joy (09:33)
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By ThinkForYourself
What is the difference between a yellow-catarro spit firmly stuck to the asphalt and a drop of dew sliding down the gentle curves of a leaf? This is exactly the difference between 90% of metal releases in recent years and Mabool: Poetry and Class, that’s all.
Make it yours, put it in your player, put on your headphones. Close your eyes. Now you are there.
