(Oriental Progressive Rock)[CD] Yossi Sassi & The Oriental Rock Orchestra - Illusion of Choice - 2018, FLAC (tracks), lossless

Illusion of Choice
by Yossi Sassi & The Oriental Rock Orchestra
Our Choices are the thing that distinguishes us the most. We differ mostly by the choices we make. Choice transcend deeper than your gender or skin color -
they determine Life as we know it. We do not choose our Roots, but we choose our Roads, and pick certain paths rather than others.
This is also the main difference between the child and the adult. An adult defines his routine, his character and essentially his "fate" by a vast collection
of choices, small and big, mundane and crucial.
Between the perception that everything is known in advance ("Maktoob", a predestined fate) and the absolute liberty of the individual (I am the only one
responsible for my fate, I control all my choices), there is a certain balance. It is difficult to identify completely with any of these extremes. And yet,
many people tend to cling on one of these extremists, in different periods of their lives, or consistently, until they depart from us.
This is the initial setting for the discussion of the concept of the new album - 'Illusion of Choice'.
Why CHOICE? Because choices shape our whole lives. In the past, humans would decide very little about themselves, even critical decisions were made in total
arbitrariness by an external factor, such as God or the family (the choice of the next king was made by the God you worshiped, or the church, and people
would marry those they were told to or matched to, regardless of true love and choice of the heart.
Over the years, the West's approach and the strengthening of focusing on the individual and his needs, have caused the pendulum to shift from the
Outside/Externally determined choices (God, family) to the interior/Self-determined choices (me, myself and I).
In the current generation we reach a climax of individual rights and many choices that are driven primarily by our passions and yearnings, true passion &
instant gratification guide much of our choices.
What is the ILLUSION, then?
First of all, many of our apparently conscious choices are not conscious at all, and result from structures, connections and experiences in our past, while
we are certain that they are the product of our free will. There is also a genetic imperative for complete DNA segments that simply 'trigger' and activate
biological "code snippets" and the individual responds to them in their "free choice."
But the greatest illusion happens in the transition to the information age, The Cyber Generation. Cyber is the delicate fabric in which devices, software
(lines of code that someone writes) and people - exist. It is not clear where we start and where the devices end, and vice versa. "Battery life" took on a
completely different meaning. No battery - no life. Or a whole other life suddenly shines in the lack of full Cyber immerse. Real choices. No code, no
algorithm that learns and offers you your next choice. Our personal choices are based on what has been analyzed and chosen for you in advance. You don't
really choose how to travel when using 'Waze'. You don't really choose what to see on your Facebook feed. We choose for ourselves, but we are conducted with
a false sense of total choice. A deep sense of control, a space that is completely undemocratic, not anonymous, and out of our control.
Welcome to "The Illusion of Choice" - an open album that was recorded open heatedly next to the open sea on a secluded Island, by a group of musicians who
broke away from everything for a few days and tried to really choose what they feel and want to do.
And what do you think?
We'll be glad to hear. If you choose to.
Go Make Your Choice.
Yossi
yossisassi.bandcamp.com
Reveal (Lyrics: Ross Jennings)
Reach Out
With an open heart and a narrow mind
With a sleight of hand we reach out...
I surround myself
With inanimation
In the company of none
A voiceless mouth
In silent words i scream
And deafen everyone
We are quick to drown
In a pool of envy
As we wash up on your shore
On the mirror's side
I'm without reflection
Nor a shadow from the sun
In a fleeting life
That is still worth living
If just to see the end
Take me in your arms
Break me gently
From the start my heart's been all but empty
Now the rug has been swept from 'neath my feet
Take me in your arms and break me gently
Reaching out, you reveal yourself to me
Choice (Lyrics: Yossi Sassi)
It's never enough, neither tidy nor buffed
The voices inside have nowhere to hide
You think you'd know but then you see
That's not the way you thought it would be
You read the writing on the wall but it doesn't make sense
Can you feel what it really all means
Can you be at peace with yourself for once...
In the heart of the storm, always carry on
They bring on more and more, always high tide on your shore
You think you'd know but then you see
That's not the way you thought it would be
You read the writing on the wall but it doesn't make sense
Can you feel what it all means?
Can you be at peace with yourself for once...
You should be glad
That wasn't so bad
I bet it could have gone worse, yet it was your choice
Go make your choice…
The Syncopating Heart (Lyrics: Yossi Sassi)
All day long
Right seems wrong
What goes up must come down
Don't be afraid to be a clown
Falling stars
How bright they shine
Here's a wish and here's a dream I had
Now I cannot get them out of my head
The syncopating heart is once more torn apart
Right from the start you knew your part
Riding far
The whole world is my car
Don't worry if you can't feel your feet
In this race there is only one person to beat
When you think you are wrong, that's when you are right
When you think of black, that’s actually white
We pray to the same god, but still we all fight
I wonder if we know differently...?
The syncopating heart is once more torn apart
Right from the start you knew your part
With every tear of rain you smile against the pain
Remember, complex can only be tamed by plain
yossisassi.bandcamp.com

Yossi Sassi & The Oriental Rock Orchestra: Illusion of Choice (2018)
Автор: Яков Каганцов
Дата публикации: 17 января 2019 г.
Один мудрый человек заметил, что чем глубже композитор своими творческими корнями врастает в национальную почву, тем естественней и жизненней его творчество.
Orphaned Land – израильская группа, которая в своей музыке гармонично соединила прог-металлическую мощь с красотой и богатством восточных мелодий: еврейских, арабских и других. Одним из активных участников Orphaned Land был гитарист и композитор Йосси Сасси. В 2014 году пути группы и гитариста разошлись. Но что примечательно, уход гитариста не привел к распаду команды или кардинальной смене её направления. Нет. Orphaned Land продолжают вполне успешное движение:
концертируют по всему миру и записывают новые студийные альбомы.
Что же касается Йосси Сасси, то в настоящий момент он собрал новый состав, который назвал The Oriental Rock Orchestra. И если Orphaned Land – это песенная команда, то гитарист в основном создает и записывает инструментальную музыку. Еще одно принципиальное отличие сольного творчества гитариста от материала, исполняемого Orphaned Land, заключается в том, что группа играет прог-металл с элементами восточной музыки, а Йосси Сасси исполняет именно восточную музыку, в аранжировках которой задействует краски и выразительные средства прогрессивного рока. Сольный репертуар гитариста менее громкий, но при этом он более разнообразный в плане мелодий и ритмов.
Альбом «Illusion of Choice» – четвертая студийная работа гитариста. Он состоит из девяти достойных треков, три из которых – песни. Две песни спели
приглашенные вокалисты: «Reveal» – Росс Дженнингс, а «Choice» – Эстер Рада. И хотя песни спеты на английском языке, мелодии в них все же не английские и не европейские, а восточные.
Альбом великолепно записан. В результате чего достигнут практически идеальный баланс между роковой ритм-секцией, электрогитарами и этнической перкуссией, деревянными духовыми инструментами и хоровыми вокализами.
guitar.ru
Yossi Sassi & The Oriental Rock Orchestra - Illusion of Choice
Some musicians are known for their important musical contributions, but just a few people can know and understand the complexity of them. Some choices they
made aren’t understandable for many. I believe that you all know that the Israeli guitarist Yossi Sassi was one of the founders of ORPHANED LAND. He is back
with one more album under the name of YOSSI SASSI & THE ORIENTAL ROCK ORCHESTRA, and the title of it is “Illusion of Choice”.
If you look for something like ORPHANED LAND, you better think twice. We can say that Yossi makes music in a mix between Oriental Rock, Progressive Rock and
World Music. It’s not to be assimilated by many, because of the diversity of elements that you’ll find on each song. It’s truly different, but how lovely
this album becomes as you hear it more and more. It’s that kind of album that the more you hear, the more you’ll be seduced. It’s a conceptual album, in
which the lyrics and ideas of the songs are talking about how our choices on life shapes our existences and the world.
The sonority that shapes “Illusion of Choice” is really excellent. To make such musical work sounds comprehensible is not an easy task, but everything is
working amazingly. Let me tell you: all the musical instruments sound in their due places, with the right tunes. It seems that Yossi and the guys on the
studios had a very hard time to find the best sound quality for the album, but they found it!
On the nine songs of the album, only three of them have lyrics, so the other six are instrumental ones. But nothing can be thrown away; everything on
“Illusion of Choice” is truly precious. “Reveal” (a Progressive Rock/World Music song with fine Oriental melodies that can seduce you all), “Choice” (with a
fine and introspective insight, and it shows a charming and tender atmosphere, with great vocals), and “The Syncopating Heart” (where some clean guitars gave
the right idea of the Oriental influences mixed a Progressive Rock atmosphere). These are the songs with lyrics, but you must listen to the instrumental acts
too, because the aggressive mix between Fusion and heavy elements shown on “Art of the Problem”, the seductive Oriental melodies of “Maktoob” with its
monumental harmonic structures (especially on guitars), and the fusion of oriental World Music elements with a Classic Rock insight of “Monad” are amazing.
By the way, in the Bandcamp version, you’ll find two excellent bonus songs: a version of “Choice” with the vocals of Yossi, and the long and progressive
“Black Rock Jam” with its ethereal and modern elements.
All that’s left to say is that Yossi is really a musical genius, and “Illusion of Choice” is really an amazing album!
Originality: 10
Songwriting: 10
Memorability: 9
Production: 10
by Marcos "Big Daddy" Garcia at 02 March 2018, 10:37 AM
metal-temple.com
Yossi Sassi & The Oriental Rock Orchestra – “Illusion of Choice”
Known to me as the Co-founder of Orphaned Land, Yossi Sassi is an internationally acclaimed musician having shared the stage with a plethora of artists from
across the world, such as Metallica, Steve Vai, Marty Friedman and Steven Wilson to name a few. Haven given a TED talk on ‘The power of music to unite
people’, he was awarded 4 peace and friendship awards from cities and governments. That’s not all, he invented the unique Bouzouki-Guitar instrument
(Electric guitar combined with acoustic Bouzouki) and is known to play 17 different type of guitars and traditional instruments.
While the music has a blend of eastern and Oriental scales eclectically blended with Progressive rock we do hear a lot of experimentation with tones. The
band loves to drive inspiration from different cultures in the world, while listing Joe Satriani, David Gilmour, Pink Floyd, Iron Maiden, and Opeth as some
of their influences. To me that’s a wonderful list of progressive influencers and some of my favourites too.
“Illusion of Choice”, a concept album, marks as the 4th Studio album by the band scheduled to release on the 4th of April 2018, the String were recorded and
arranged at Yoed Nir String Productions, while the record was engineered, recorded, mixed and mastered by Liron Schaffer at ‘Black Rock Studios’, Santorini,
Greece and Jaffa Sound Arts, Tel-Aviv Jaffa. This concept album emphasizes on the illusion of what we think of is our choice, whereas it may be an
amalgamation and culmination of multitude of external factors that remain oblivious and hidden from us. The context sounds very promising and I cant wait to
queue it in.
The album opens up with “Kardia” with its truly magnificent and refreshing soundscape. Right at the outset we realize we’ve stumbled upon something unique
and great as bar by bar various instruments plunge in adding so much flavour to this opening track and we’re left surprised as high tonal and slightly
distorted bass barges in and disrupts everything only to be mingled back to the whole orchestra of things. Brilliant!
The next track, “Reveal” really appears to be out of nowhere but gradually blends in the ambient scheme of things. The claps on the drum goes well with
rumbling bass and the neat and progressive guitar riffs. The song takes many well-coordinated progressive shifts and ends beautifully with second voices at
the outro. “Art of the Problem” has a remarkable and catchy opening to a guitar riff, which is abruptly interfered with a high on gain finger picked bass
line and a musical schism quickly occurs with beautiful voice chiming in and changing the trajectory of the song direction all together.
“Maktoob”, a predestined fate, resonates with a middle-eastern styled riff, the distorted guitars add flair and pumps up the metal in the song. An
instrumental track with melodic hymns, accentuated with a Bouzouki, pounding guitar riffs, and a pleasant breakdown adding so much power and ruggedness to
this song. “Choice”, sung beautifully by Ester Rada takes on a slower tempo could well be passed off as a Ballad, but it is not. It’s the epitome of the
concept of this album and has a beautiful guitar solo to its credit.
“Oriental Echoes” picks up pace and braces us with heavier guitar chugs with some middle eastern elements in the guitar riffing, but this truly is one grand
of a progressive track taking the song places and leaving so much element of surprise that its breath taking. This song upped their game and makes me want to
take a step back and listen through their older records. I’m sure of have discovered a gem that needs to be preached and publicized about.
“Monad” and “Akrotiri” have the same magical catchy middle-eastern riff with a running bass and maybe it’s a flute I hear in the background in “Akrotiri”,
and the well sung hymns in the chorus and a soul replenishing guitar solo to uplift you and mesmerize in “Monad”. My attention goes to their
well-orchestrated song arrangements and baffles me with beauty much beyond comprehension. Kudos!
I do not want this album to end, but I’m left with no choice as I helplessly move to “The Syncopating Heart” the ballad that speaks of grander things, of
hope, of understanding and misunderstandings. Staying true to its element and conveying the context of the album straight from the gut.
Production – The album is mixed, mastered and produced brilliantly. I could have not asked for a better sound.
Conclusion – This is a beautiful album and needs to be listened by all. It has an important message for us all, and yet delivers all that message with so
much magic and character that it leaves you hungry (musically) for more. Definitely a must buy!
Rating: 9.5/10
Posted by Ankit Sood on March 12, 2018 at 00:58
mauce.nl
Yossi Sassi & The Oriental Rock Orchestra – Illusion of Choice
When I’m ready to listen to an album by any ‘oriental’ tag on it, immediately comes to mind ‘another album with oriental music elements combined with metal’…
but in this case I have to highlight that “Illusion of Choice” is by none other than the man generally accepted as ‘the creator’ of the ‘oriental metal’ tag.
Yossi Sassi displays on this album every path traced since the conception of Orphaned Land (considered as the pioneers on this subgenre) until today on his
solo career.
But Yossi’s music is so much more, is not just plain ‘oriental’ and ‘metal’: it has progressive rock elements, it has Jazz elements, it has Blues, and folk…
all of this combined with such ease. Of course you’re going to recognize the oriental music elements as predominant, but listen carefully and you’ll start to
discover so much more!
The instrumental ‘Kardia’ opens a mostly instrumental album. Featuring the main elements that make Yossi Sassi’s music recognizable at first listen. Then the
first guest appearance in the vocal duties we have Ross Jennings (Haken) in ‘Reveal’, which was released as single and video.
The song features an interesting mix of what has become ‘classic’ progmetal and the oriental melodies, in a more progressive composition than what we can
find in Orphaned Land or Myrath to name two of the most known bands on this genre.
The album continues with 2 relatively short instrumentals with ‘Art of the Problem’ and ‘Maktoob’, the first being the more straight-forward prog but with a
beautiful oriental melodies middle part which creates a nice platform for Yossi’s prowess on the guitars. ‘Maktoob’ starts as a slower tune, a bit sombre in
mood and built upon oriental melodies with some highlights here and there from Yossi’s shreds. Towards the end features a nice combination of off-time
passages and oriental melodies. Very proggy for a moment, very interesting overall, but lacking certain shine and the outro sounding a tad forced in my
opinion.
Next track features Ester Rada (actress and soul and jazz singer of ethiopian-jewish heritage) on vocal duties. ‘Choice’ is a melancholic tune. A soft paced
ballad perfect to feature Ester’s beautiful, clear and power voice. The song overall is a break into the general mood and musical concept of the album, at
times when listening the whole album it feels out of place as it has very few elements from the oriental music we’ve been listening until now. ‘Choice’ is
beautiful song and powerful on its own and would fit perfectly on any album featuring more generic progrock. So, don’t get me wrong, the song is beautiful
and a perfect example of melodies that get stuck in your head for days. Yossi closes the song with a gorgeous guitar solo that bursts equally in feeling and
expertise.
For the next 3 songs the album comes back to the instrumental tracks with oriental flavors. ‘Orient Echoes’ is the most progressive song of the album,
showcasing an array of rhythm changes and complex melodies based on oriental music scales, with guitars, flutes, and all the orchestra in perfect sync.
‘Akrotiri’ is a much slower song, more mid-eastern music than anything metal. Without being an expert myself, I dare to say the only western instruments are
guitars and drums. Very melodic and easy to enjoy, while ‘Monad’ continues the same pattern as the rest of the album, the difference, apart from the main
melodies, is that it features a chorus vocalizing along the melody in jewish traditional music fashion.
‘The Syncopating Heart’ closes an interesting and varied album, with vocals duties by Yossi himself. Is a mellow tune, back with oriental elements, but more
in sync with the start of the album, having more rock elements, but very few prog elements. It closes in grandiose form by having the whole orchestra in full
in an ominous melody, evidently signalling the end of the album.
It is not easy to objectively review an album that has such a big tag in front. If you like the combination of progressive metal or metal with other genres,
no matter what kind, go for it, as it is interesting how Yossi mastered the art of composing a different kind of metal, having heart and traditions up front,
but without falling too flat into yet another oriental rock album. Sassi is an excellent guitarist who created an album that could serve as introduction to
this subgenre in metal, but can be as well regarded as an excellent guitar axe -almost instrumental- showcase of why he has made a name for himself in the
genre.
Posted by Van | Sep 27, 2018 |
theprogspace.com