Orpheus Blade is a progressive metal band originating in Israel. On May 11th they released their new album "Wolf’s Cry." The album tells a story of a werewolf and the struggle between embracing this curse, and grasping onto humanity, among other various other angles.  The album is as enticing lyrically as it is musically. I’m a big fan of theatrical concept albums that take on multiple characters and employ a relationship between them, and they pull this off quite well.

A big theme in this album is the idea of opposition. Not so much two forces contesting each other, but two beings straying off into different directions. Early in the album you hear the two vocalists singing kind of in unison, or complimenting each other at the very least. As the album progresses though, as the two characters begin to become these opposites, you can hear the texture of the vocal lines becoming a disjointed polyphony – it’s just really cool!  Small nuances like that in this album are fantastic to hear. 

These guys constructed a work with many dynamic high and low points, and are able to create a quiet intensity with the ever changing timbre of the voices. Both vocalists, Adi Bitran (who wrote all the lyrics and music) and Henning Basse, are able to drastically change the quality of their voices from soft and calm to strong and chaotic to bring these very dynamic characters to life.

"Wolf’s Cry" is a pretty damn enjoyable album.  If you’re looking for a rock opera about werewolves and the inner turmoil between man and beast, then you’ve come to the right place.