Right before the western world drowns in the annual Christmas chaos, Israel’s Orphaned Land report in with a special holiday message to all their fans worldwide: “Hello there to all the warriors of light. Orphaned Land is working very hard these days to promote the new album The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR. We're doing a lot of interviews and media news and symbolically it is the only time of the year where the three Abrahamic religions are celebrating a holiday at the same time. “We are taking a small break here to congratulate our Christian fans for Christmas, our Muslim fans for the beginning of the new Muslim year and our Jewish fans - Happy Hanukah! And above all - to the metalheads all around there - the metal scene is a great example to people, leaders and politicians of how to create a global language, how to accept one another despite our differences, and above all and because of that - we are proud to be metalheads! May this synergy and time of unification grow in us to learn and to understand each other better in the Middle East and all over the world. "Thy name shall be henceforth ORwarriOR" Peace, Shalom, Salam.” As a first teaser track for the band’s new album The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR the song “Sapari” has also been launched on the band’s MySpace page, so check it out here: To watch a video of female vocalist Shlomit Levi telling more about the meaning and creation of this tune, see here: The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR will be released on January 25th (February 9th in the US) and was mixed by Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Opeth), who is also responsible for several keyboard parts on the new album. Look forward to one of the most daring albums in 2010! The time has come for Middle Eastern metal to take over… On February 9th (January 25th in Europe) Israel’s Orphaned Land will release their highly anticipated fourth studio opus The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR. Mixed by Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree, Opeth), who is also responsible for several keyboard parts on the new album, the album turns out to be a sophisticated concept album taking Orphaned Land’s unique brand of exotic, heavy music to soaring new heights in terms of complexity and catchiness. Kobi Farhi (vocals) comments on the artwork by Zen Two & Native as follows: “Even in the album’s artwork we combined Hebrew and Arabic, regardless of the fight between Jews and Muslims. I found a Jordanian guy, specialized in calligraphic artwork. He took letters from Hebrew and Arabic and moulded them in his art to create a symbol of peace. The whole artwork is mainly hand made as we are tired and a bit sick of too much Photoshop in many works. I truly believe that the work these guys did for us is something really special and we are very lucky to have it. You will soon see that simply every page of the album’s booklet is a masterpiece!” On the new promo photo and the resulting reactions, Farhi states: “It's been 2 weeks since we launched our very controversial band photo - most reactions were simply great and I've noticed more than a few discussions on it all over the net. However, I also noticed that some people found it offensive or they just didn't like the idea, I must tell you this - this is the best band photo we have ever done, finally our concept and music also was reflected visually. We will never offend any culture and our main thing is to unite people who are different, to let them realize that we are all the same, all one. Please think about the place we come from, then look at the photo again - this is Orphaned Land" All German Orphaned Land fans can already look forward to seeing the band live during the upcoming festival season. So far, the renowned Rock Hard festival in Gelsenkirchen (May 21 – 23, 2010) and Summer Breeze festival in Dinkelsbuhl (August 19 – 21, 2010) have been confirmed! More touring and festival updates will be announced soon… The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR is an audible manifest that the time has come for Middle Eastern metal to take over.