''El Norra Alila'' is the second full-length studio album by the Israeli

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

band

Orphaned Land Orphaned Land is an Israeli Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1991. They combine Mizrahi music, Mizrahi and Maghrebi Jews, Maghrebi Jewish, Arabic music, Arabic, Music of Turkey, Turkish, and other Middle Eastern music, Middle Easter ...

, released on July 18, 1996 by

Holy Records Holy Records is a French metal label run by Misanthrope frontman Phillipe De L'Argilière. Aside from Misanthrope itself, the label has not signed many French bands, but also corresponds with several Greek bands. History Holy Records was founde ...

. It is the band's first

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

. The album was reissued as a

deluxe edition The terms special edition, limited edition, and variants such as deluxe edition, collector's edition or expanded edition are used as a marketing incentive for various kinds of products, originally published products related to the arts, such as b ...

in July 2006 as a 10-year-anniversary for the album and contains extras; the song "Disciples of the Sacred Oath" and

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

clips of "Ornaments of Gold" and "The Evil Urge".

Album meaning and concept

There are religious translations within the album name, "Nor" means "the light" in

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, "Alila" meaning "the night", "El" meaning "God" in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

and "Norra" meaning "terrible", and "Alila" meaning "tale". This means that the album can be translated as; "God of Light – Evil of the Night" and gives reference to its concept of

light versus darkness The contrast of white and black (light and darkness, day and night) has a long tradition of metaphorical usage, traceable to the Ancient Near East, and explicitly in the Pythagorean '' Table of Opposites''. In Western culture as well as in Co ...

. The name is a pun on

El Nora Alila El Nora Alila (), also transliterated as Ayl Nora Alilah, is a piyyut (liturgical poem) that begins the Ne'ilah service at the conclusion of Yom Kippur. The piyyut is recited as part of the Sephardic and Mizrahi liturgy, and has been adopted by ...

, a popular

Sephardic Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

piyyut A piyyuṭ (plural piyyuṭim, ; from ) is a Jewish liturgical poem, usually designated to be sung, chanted, or recited during religious services. Most piyyuṭim are in Mishnaic Hebrew or Jewish Palestinian Aramaic, and most follow some p ...

, which is sung during

Ne'ilah Ne'ila (), the ''concluding service'', is a special Jewish prayer service that is held only on Yom Kippur. It is the time when final prayers of repentance are recited at the closing of Yom Kippur. Neilah marks the fifth Amidah of Yom Kippur, the o ...

Yom Kippur Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...

Track listing

#"Find Yourself, Discover God" – 6:15 #"Like Fire to Water" – 4:46 #"The Truth Within" – 4:34 #"The Path Ahead" – 4:16 #"A Neverending Way" – 2:06 #"Takasim" – 1:13 #"Thee by the Father I Pray" – 3:11 #"Flawless Belief" – 6:46 #"Joy" – 0:42 #"Whisper My Name When You Dream" – 4:35 #"Shir Hama'Alot" – 5:02 #"El Meod Na'Ala" – 2:22 #"Of Temptation Born" – 4:42 #"The Evil Urge" – 16:07 #"Shir Hashirim " – 1:58

Deluxe Edition

# "Disciples of the Sacred Oath" # "Ornaments of Gold" (video clip) # "The Evil Urge" (video clip)

Credits

Band members

* Kobi Farhi – vocals * Yossi Sasi – lead guitars * Matti Svatitzki – rhythm guitar * Uri Zelcha – bass * Sami Bachar – drums

Session members and guests

* Hadas Sasi – female vocals * Amira Salah – Arab female vocals * Abraham Salman – kannun * Avi Agababa –

zil OJSC AMO ZiL, known fully as the Public Joint-Stock Company – Likhachov Plant () and more commonly called ZiL (, was a major Russian automobile, truck, military vehicle, and heavy equipment manufacturer that was based in Moscow. The last ZiL ...

bendir The bendir (, ; : , ) is a wooden-framed frame drum of North Africa and West Asia, Southwest Asia. The bendir is a traditional instrument that is played throughout North Africa, as well as in Sufism, Sufi ceremonies; it was played, too, in Ancie ...

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black b ...

dumbek The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet-shaped body. It is ...

darbuka The goblet drum (also chalice drum, tarabuka, tarabaki, darbuka, darabuka, derbake, debuka, doumbek, dumbec, dumbeg, dumbelek, toumperleki, tumbak, or zerbaghali; / Romanized: ) is a single-head membranophone with a goblet-shaped body. It is ...

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called "zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, thoug ...

* Sivan Zelikoff – violin * Yariv Malka – sampler,

shofar A shofar ( ; from , ) is an ancient musical horn, typically a ram's horn, used for Jewish ritual purposes. Like the modern bugle, the shofar lacks pitch-altering devices, with all pitch control done by varying the player's embouchure. The ...

* Felix Mizrahi – violin * Avi Sharon –

oud The oud ( ; , ) is a Middle Eastern short-neck lute-type, pear-shaped, fretless stringed instrument (a chordophone in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification of instruments), usually with 11 strings grouped in six courses, but some models have ...

, backing vocals * David Sasi – vocals, backing vocals * Unknown musician goes by the name "Vovin" – Guitars

Production and other

Lyrics Lyrics are words that make up a song, usually consisting of verses and choruses. The writer of lyrics is a lyricist. The words to an extended musical composition such as an opera are, however, usually known as a "libretto" and their writer, ...

, Alon Miasnikov, Traditional * Music by Orphaned Land, Traditional * Production by Kobi Farhi, Yossi Sassi * Engineered by Udi Koomran * Assistant and Producers: Ran Carmeli, Yuval Segal, Yaniv Barzilai, Gerry Gani * Mastering by Ran Bagno, Udi Koomran * Arrangement by Udi Koomran, Kobi Farhi, Yossi Sassi * "Shir Hashirim" recorded in The Infinite Studios by Yariv Malka. * Cover art by: Ehud Graf {{DEFAULTSORT:Norra Alila 1996 albums Orphaned Land albums 1990s concept albums Holy Records albums