''Mabool: The Story of the Three Sons of Seven'' is the third full-length

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

by the

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

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 ...

. It was released on February 23, 2004 through

Century Media Records Century Media Records is a German heavy metal record label with offices in Germany, the United States and the United Kingdom. In August 2015, Century Media was acquired by Sony Music for US$17 million. Background Century Media was founded by R ...

. One

limited 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 ...

version of the album has a bonus CD entitled ''The Calm Before the Flood'' containing live acoustic tracks, while another limited edition version was released by

Profound Lore Records Profound Lore Records is a Canadian independent record label founded in May 2004. The label primarily focuses on releasing extreme metal and experimental albums. It "began as the 'hobby-like venture' of a few friends but, over the past six year ...

as a 2- LP album with alternate cover art in a clear wax case limited to only 500 copies. Two

videos Video is an electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving visual media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, which were quickly replaced by cathode-ray tube (CRT) system ...

were made for the album, one for the song "Ocean Land" and the other for the song "Norra el Norra", and were the band's first music videos. Mabool is Orphaned Land's second

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 ...

. "Mabool" (מבול) is the

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 ...

word for "flood," and refers to the

Genesis flood narrative The Genesis flood narrative (chapters 6–9 of the Book of Genesis) is a Hebrew flood myth. It tells of God's decision to return the universe to its pre- creation state of watery chaos and remake it through the microcosm of Noah's ark. The B ...

from which the album's concept, the band's reinterpretation of Noah's Ark, is derived. The album was made in a highly arranged fashion and took six years to be arranged, composed and produced and is therefore the main reason for the long wait between albums.

Synopsis

The album tells the story of the three sons (

angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

) split from the seventh descendant of the seventh (God's seven descendents were

Abraham Abraham (originally Abram) is the common Hebrews, Hebrew Patriarchs (Bible), patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father who began the Covenant (biblical), covenanta ...

Isaac Isaac ( ; ; ; ; ; ) is one of the three patriarchs (Bible), patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. Isaac first appears in the Torah, in wh ...

Jacob Jacob, later known as Israel, is a Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions. He first appears in the Torah, where he is described in the Book of Genesis as a son of Isaac and Rebecca. Accordingly, alongside his older fraternal twin brother E ...

Sarah Sarah (born Sarai) is a biblical matriarch, prophet, and major figure in Abrahamic religions. While different Abrahamic faiths portray her differently, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam all depict her character similarly, as that of a pious woma ...

Rebecca Rebecca () appears in the Hebrew Bible as the wife of Isaac and the mother of Jacob and Esau. According to biblical tradition, Rebecca's father was Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram, also called Aram-Naharaim. Rebecca's brother was Laban (Bi ...

Rachel Rachel () was a Bible, Biblical figure, the favorite of Jacob's two wives, and the mother of Joseph (Genesis), Joseph and Benjamin, two of the twelve progenitors of the tribes of Israel. Rachel's father was Laban (Bible), Laban. Her older siste ...

, and

Leah Leah () appears in the Hebrew Bible as one of the two wives of the Biblical patriarch Jacob. Leah was Jacob's first wife, and the older sister of his second (and favored) wife Rachel. She is the mother of Jacob's first son Reuben. She has thr ...

ot specified in the album. The seventh was divided into three, representing the divide of the

Abrahamic religion The term Abrahamic religions is used to group together monotheistic religions revering the Biblical figure Abraham, namely Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. The religions share doctrinal, historical, and geographic overlap that contrasts them wit ...

into three main streams:

Judaism Judaism () is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic, Monotheism, monotheistic, ethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jews, Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of o ...

Islam Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...

. Each angel bore the face of an animal and was given a power and representation. The first angel is the

snake Snakes are elongated limbless reptiles of the suborder Serpentes (). Cladistically squamates, snakes are ectothermic, amniote vertebrates covered in overlapping scales much like other members of the group. Many species of snakes have s ...

Judaism; he is represented by a

Star of David The Star of David (, , ) is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism. Its shape is that of a hexagram: the compound of two equilateral triangles. A derivation of the Seal of Solomon was used for decora ...

and his power is

magic Magic or magick most commonly refers to: * Magic (supernatural), beliefs and actions employed to influence supernatural beings and forces ** ''Magick'' (with ''-ck'') can specifically refer to ceremonial magic * Magic (illusion), also known as sta ...

. The second angel is the

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

Islam; he is represented by a half moon and his power is

strength Strength may refer to: Personal trait *Physical strength, as in people or animals *Character strengths like those listed in the Values in Action Inventory *The exercise of willpower Physics * Mechanical strength, the ability to withstand ...

. The third angel is the

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

Christianity; he is represented by the

cross A cross is a religious symbol consisting of two Intersection (set theory), intersecting Line (geometry), lines, usually perpendicular to each other. The lines usually run vertically and horizontally. A cross of oblique lines, in the shape of t ...

and his power is

wisdom Wisdom, also known as sapience, is the ability to apply knowledge, experience, and good judgment to navigate life’s complexities. It is often associated with insight, discernment, and ethics in decision-making. Throughout history, wisdom ha ...

. Fearing their strength,

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

forbade the angels from reuniting into one. Defying the divine order, the angels united into one, who was then immediately exiled from

heaven Heaven, or the Heavens, is a common Religious cosmology, religious cosmological or supernatural place where beings such as deity, deities, angels, souls, saints, or Veneration of the dead, venerated ancestors are said to originate, be throne, ...

earth Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all ...

and divided into three again, sentenced to fight each other until they can prove themselves and get back into heaven. As they were cast down to Earth, they foresaw a

prophecy In religion, mythology, and fiction, a prophecy is a message that has been communicated to a person (typically called a ''prophet'') by a supernatural entity. Prophecies are a feature of many cultures and belief systems and usually contain di ...

, that if

humanity Humanity most commonly refers to: * Human, also humankind * Humanity (virtue) Humanity may also refer to: Literature * ''Humanity: A Moral History of the Twentieth Century'', a 1999 book by Jonathan Glover * ''Humanity'', a 1990 science fiction n ...

could not stop sinning, then God would flood the Earth to cleanse the land. The angels then embark on a quest to warn humanity of the flood and try to convince them to stop their sins, but ultimately fail to do so. God orders the three angels to build an ark of gopher wood and save two of each animal. It rains for during which a flood destroys

society A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

, and an

ocean The ocean is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of Earth. The ocean is conventionally divided into large bodies of water, which are also referred to as ''oceans'' (the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Indian, Southern Ocean ...

buries the land. The album concludes with the three angels praying to God to guide the ark onto dry land.

Reception

As of March 8, 2020, ''Mabool'' has a rating of 8.85 based on 738 votes on

Metal Storm Metal Storm Limited was a research and development company based in Brisbane, Australia, that specialized in electronically initiated superposed load weapons technology and owned the proprietary rights to the electronic ballistics technology ...

. This average ranks the album as the 4th best record of 2004 and the 96th best album of all time on Metal Storm.

Track listing

# "Birth of the Three (The Unification)" – 6:57 # "Ocean Land (The Revelation)" – 4:43 # "The Kiss of Babylon (The Sins)" – 7:23 # "A'salk" – 2:05 # "Halo Dies (The Wrath of God)" – 7:29 # "A Call to Awake (The Quest)" – 6:10 # "Building the Ark" – 5:02 # "Norra el Norra (Entering the Ark)" – 4:24 # "The Calm Before the Flood" – 4:25 # "Mabool (The Flood)" – 6:59 # "The Storm Still Rages Inside" – 9:20 # "Rainbow (The Resurrection)" – 3:01 ''The Calm Before the Flood'' track listing: # "The Evil Urge" – 3:28 # "A Never Ending Way" – 3:14 # "Mercy" (

Paradise Lost ''Paradise Lost'' is an Epic poetry, epic poem in blank verse by the English poet John Milton (1608–1674). The poem concerns the Bible, biblical story of the fall of man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satan and their ex ...

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

from '' One Second'') – 3:46 # "The Beloved's Cry" – 6:42 # "The Orphaned's Medley" – 9:33

Personnel

Band members

* Kobi Farhi –

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

death growl The death growl, or simply growl, is an extended vocal technique usually employed in extreme styles of music, particularly in death metal and other Extreme metal, extreme Heavy metal genres, subgenres of heavy metal music. Sometimes death gro ...

chants A chant (from French ', from Latin ', "to sing") is the iterative speaking or singing of words or sounds, often primarily on one or two main pitches called reciting tones. Chants may range from a simple melody involving a limited set of not ...

, spoken reading * Yossi Saharon (Sasi) –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

, clean guitars,

acoustic guitar An acoustic guitar is a musical instrument in the string family. When a string is plucked, its vibration is transmitted from the bridge, resonating throughout the top of the guitar. It is also transmitted to the side and back of the instrument, ...

s, classic guitars, saz,

bouzouki The bouzouki (, also ; ; alt. pl. ''bouzoukia'', , from Greek , from Turkish ) is a musical instrument popular in West Asia (Syria, Iraq), Europe and Balkans (Greece, North Macedonia, Bulgaria, Turkey). It is a member of the long-necked lute fam ...

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 ...

, solos on tracks 1, 5, 6, 7, and 11. * Matti Svatitzki –

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a guitar technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse (music), pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., d ...

, clean guitars, acoustic guitars, solos on tracks 2 and 5. * Uri Zelcha –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...

fretless bass A fretless bass is an electric bass guitar whose neck lacks frets and thus is smooth like traditional string instruments, and like the neck of an acoustic double bass. While the fretless bass is played in all styles of music, it is most common in ...

* Eden Rabin – keyboards,

synthesizer A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis a ...

piano A piano is a keyboard instrument that produces sound when its keys are depressed, activating an Action (music), action mechanism where hammers strike String (music), strings. Modern pianos have a row of 88 black and white keys, tuned to a c ...

Session members and guest musicians

* Avi Diamond –

drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...

* Avi Agababa –

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a percussion mallet, beater including attached or enclosed beaters or Rattle (percussion beater), rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or ...

Shlomit Levi Shlomit Levi () is an Israeli singer. She is a member of the folk metal group Orphaned Land, performing on their albums ''Mabool'' (2004), ''The Never Ending Way of ORWarriOR'' (2010) and ''Unsung Prophets & Dead Messiahs'' (2018). She currently ...

– Yemenite female vocals ;Oriental choir * David Sassi * Avi Ratzon * Yariv Malka * Kobi Farhi * Yossi Sassi * Eden Rabin * Erez Caspi ;Moran ensemble * Tali Ketzef * Neta Gev * Neta Kirschenbaum * Michal Front * Yael Front * Naama Aharony * Reut Venforero * Noa Kalush * Liad Dahari * Rachel Reuven * Yair Goren * Yair Polishuk * Eden Rabin * Kobi Farhi * Yossi Sassi

Production and other

* All

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

composed between the years 1997 and 2003 by Yossi Sassi, Matti Svatizki, Eden Rabin, Kobi Farhi, and Uri Zalcha (except song 8 – Egyptian Traditional). * Additional composition on songs 1, 5, 6, 10 by Sami Bachar. * Production management and arrangements by Kobi Farhi with the help of all

members. * Recording Engineer: Erez Caspi * Additional Recording Engineer: Simon Vinestock, Daniel Ya'ari * Assistant Engineer: Marselo David Kovalsky, Rafi Nahmias * "Moazin" (end of song 2) were sung and recorded secretly in

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal ( ; ; ) is an ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India. It was commissioned in 1631 by the fifth Mughal Empire, Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his belo ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

by Kobi Farhi. * Intro and

Thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

s were recorded by Kobi Farhi in India and

. ;Concept and lyrics * Kobi Farhi and Alon Miasnikov * Additional

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, ...

by Eden Rabin * All

and

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

texts (songs 5, 7, 11) taken from the

Book of Genesis The Book of Genesis (from Greek language, Greek ; ; ) is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its incipit, first word, (In the beginning (phrase), 'In the beginning'). Genesis purpor ...

(Flood Story). * Hebrew and

Yemen Yemen, officially the Republic of Yemen, is a country in West Asia. Located in South Arabia, southern Arabia, it borders Saudi Arabia to Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, the north, Oman to Oman–Yemen border, the northeast, the south-eastern part ...

texts (songs 3, 4) taken from

Rabbi A rabbi (; ) is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi—known as ''semikha''—following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of t ...

Shalom Shabazi Shalom Shabazi (1619 – c. 1720) was the son of Yosef ben Avigad, of the family of Mashtā, also commonly known as Abba Sholem Shabazi or Saalem al-Shabazi (; ). He was a Jewish rabbi and poet who lived in 17th century Yemen, often referred to a ...

's (1619–1720)

poems Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

and from "Halel" praising song (song 8).

References

External links

* at Orphaned Land official site * * {{Authority control 2004 albums 2000s concept albums Orphaned Land albums Century Media Records albums Profound Lore Records albums