El Norra Alila is the second full-length studio album by the Israeli metal band Orphaned Land, released on July 18, 1996 by Holy Records. It is the band's first concept album. The album was reissued as a deluxe edition in July 2006 as a 10-year-anniversary for the album and contains extras; the song "Disciples of the Sacred Oath" and video 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, "Alila" meaning "the night", "El" meaning "God" in Hebrew 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.
The name is a pun on El Nora Alila, a popular Sephardic piyyut, which is sung during Ne'ilah of Yom Kippur.
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, bendir, tar, dumbek, darbuka, tambourine
Sivan Zelikoff – violin
Yariv Malka – sampler, shofar
Felix Mizrahi – violin
Avi Sharon – oud, backing vocals
David Sasi – vocals, backing vocals
Unknown musician goes by the name "Vovin" – Guitars
Production and other
Lyrics by Orphaned Land, 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