Soon a very special compilation album entitled ‘Flowers In The Desert’ will be available. On this cd Orphaned Land will be featured next to artists from countries such as Iran, Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Seeing an Israeli band being listed amongst those creates a unique momentum! This album was put together by Mark LeVine, author of the ‘Heavy Metal Islam’ book. For this cd he picked the best metal, hiphop and hardcore artists from the Middle East and North Africa.

Quoting the website of the album: ‘The willingness to cross musical boundaries reflects one of the most positive and unheralded sides of globalization today, and offers hope for the future relations between the Muslim world and the West at a time when far too many people assume that a so-called “clash of civilizations” is inevitable. But it’s not just musical boundaries that are being crossed. So are the boundaries between secularism and religion (as one Egyptian metal guitarist explained to me, he sees no contradiction in “going to the mosque for three hours on Friday afternoon and then rehearsing with my Black Metal band for four hours after that”).

And the divide between religions is equally being trampled underfoot. Perhaps the most popular extreme metal band in the Muslim world is the Israeli group Orphaned Land (who’s breakthrough hit, “Norra El Norra” is featured here), many of whose Arab fans travel to Europe or Turkey to see them perform, and even have their logo tattooed on their bodies.’

Click here for the Flowers In The Desert’s website and to read more about Mark LeVine’s work.

Watch the album’s promo: