Orchid (album)
Encyclopedia
Orchid is the debut album by Swedish progressive death metal
band Opeth
, released on May 15, 1995 in Europe
by Candlelight Records
, and on June 24, 1997 in the United States
by Century Black. It was reissued in 2000 with one bonus track called "Into the Frost of Winter", an early recording by the band. The recording sessions occurred at the old Unisound
studio, in Finspång
, between March and April 1994. Opeth produced alongside Dan Swanö
. The band did not record a demo to get signed to a record label. Lee Barrett, the founder of Candlelight Records
, enjoyed an Opeth rehearsal tape, and decided to sign the band.
In 1994, Opeth combined progressive rock
, folk music
, black
and death metal
in songs bordering to nine minutes, except for two instrumental
songs of short duration, and made an album that did not sound like anything else at the time. According to Rocknworld, with Orchid, Opeth "became the foremost purveyors of what would come to be known as extreme
progressive metal
" and "exploded on the scene with a majestic style that reinvented what progressive meant." The album was well-received critically, even being called "unique".
, Sweden
, by David Isberg
. Isberg invited Mikael Åkerfeldt
(of the recently disbanded band Eruption) to join Opeth. The other members of the band took exception to this, and quit Opeth, leaving only Isberg and Åkerfeldt. Anders Nordin
, Nick Döring, and Andreas Dimeo were brought in as replacements. They rehearsed in a elementary school using old 60's equipment that they found there. Opeth played a show in February 1991, along with Therion
, Excruciate and Authorise, in Stockholm. Only two songs were performed for their set. Åkerfeldt commented about the show: "I reckon it was probably the worst appearance one can have witnessed. We were so fucking nervous that we all wanted to cancel the fucking gig and just go back home."
The band played a second show in Gothenburg
. Döring and Dimeo had quit the band since the first show, so Opeth contacted two members of the band Crimson Cat, Kim Pettersson and Johan DeFarfalla
, and asked them to join them onstage. Other bands playing the show were At the Gates
, Therion, Desecrator, Megaslaughter and Sarcazm. After the show, DeFarfalla left Opeth to spend time with his girlfriend. He was replaced by Åkerfeldt's friend Peter Lindgren
, who was playing in a joke band called Sylt i krysset. He accepted the offer to play bass in Opeth because he wanted to do something more serious. Pettersson later left the band, and Lindgren switched to guitar. Isberg quit in 1992, due to creative differences. Åkerfeldt became the new vocalist. He and Lindgren started writing material immediately. They rehearsed as a 3-piece for more than a year. Stefan Guteklint joined on bass, but left soon after the band signed its first record deal with Candlelight Records, in 1994.
Opeth were signed by Candlelight without a demo. For them, to go into the studio to record a demo was as big a step as going in to record an album. Åkerfeldt explained, "We didn’t have any money to spend on things like that. That would cost us, at least, a couple of hundred bucks... We didn't know where to go to record a demo." Åkerfeldt had sent out rehearsal tapes to several labels, but never received a reply. But the band received an offer from Lee Barrett to record an album. Åkerfeldt found it "quite weird." Anders Nyström
(of Katatonia
) said Candlelight was interested, based on a rumor from Samoth
(of Emperor
). Samoth had sent out a tape of unsigned bands to Barrett at Candlelight. It only had a few seconds of "The Apostle in Triumph". Barrett liked it so much he wanted to sign the band. Later, Åkerfeldt received a call from Barrett, who wanted to release a full-length album by Opeth.
, where the old Unisound
studio was located. Opeth moved from Stockholm to Finspång, where Dan Swanö
had rented an apartment for them. The studio was located in the cellar of a small house situated in the middle of a field. The album was produced and mixed by Swanö and the band, and engineered by Swanö. For the recording they had asked Johan DeFarfalla
to play session
bass guitar. He eventually became a full-time member.
Despite the nervousness of the band members, the recording sessions ran smoothly. However, the band regretted not having enough time to record the acoustic piece "Requiem". The song was first recorded at Unisound, but the band was unhappy with the result. "Requiem" was then recorded in a studio in Stockholm with Pontus Norgren
acting as co-producer. Due to a mix-up in Orchids mastering process
, the end of "Requiem" was placed at the beginning of "The Apostle in Triumph". The band has expressed regret for this, and said it was no fault of their own.
and acoustics pieces of folk music
to the black metal
scream and the death metal
growl, as well having clean vocals. It also contains influences from jazz
and melodic passages played by a piano
and acoustic guitar
s. Opeth sounded much different than the casual black or death metal bands at that time and it's the closest album that the band came to the black genre. Orchid is the album that best represented the Opeth's diverse influences and it is the rawest, according to Rocknworld. Critics describes the sound of the album as it being "unique". Jim Raggi wrote "If you're wanting the more deathy and song oriented Opeth, skip down to My Arms Your Hearse and go from there. If you're looking for a unique journey of music built alternately around dual guitar harmonies knocking into sequences when the two guitars and the bass are all playing different parts, stop-start transitions at times and smooth here-to-theres at others, here you go." Matt Smith stated that "with Orchid, the band introduced its blend of intricate, down-tempo acoustic guitar and piano lines and swinging, Celtic-sounding, distorted rhythms."
Most songs of the album exceeds nine minutes, but there are two instrumental
songs of short duration. These two instrumental songs are "Silhouette" and "Requiem". The first song was recorded just hours before they were leaving the studio and is a brief piano interlude. They were impressed that Anders Nordin
played the piano
very well. Lindgren said, "I remember the look on Dan's face when we said, 'Our drummer can play the piano.' He didn't believe a word we were saying. Dan can play the piano. Most guys play like shit. When Anders started playing, Dan was actually impressed." Åkerfeldt later said, "I'm still quite impressed." The another song is an acoustic epic, according to Lindgren. Åkerfeldt borrowed a Spanish acoustic guitar
called a Trameleuc from a guitar store to play the song.
After the members left Opeth, Mikael Åkerfeldt
and David Isberg
began to write the songs. Åkerfeldt commented about: "As you might understand I was more or less influenced by the occult back then, although in no serious manner. Music wise I was really into the twisted, dark, and evil-sounding riffs. The lyrics written by both me and David were pure Satanic chantings!" According to Åkerfeldt, "the idea for Opeth
was for it to be evil—satanic lyrics and evil riffs. I chose my notes so they sounded evil." The first two songs that Åkerfeldt and Isberg wrote were "Requiem of Lost Souls" and "Mystique of the Baphomet" (later "Mark of the Damned" and later "Forest of October"). When Isberg quit the band, Åkerfeldt and Peter Lindgren
"really felt that we had found a real original way of playing. There were at the time almost no other band [sic] using that many harmonies as we did." "Forest of October" "is the best song on the album", according to Lindgren. Åkerfeldt says he doesn't remember what it is about, and that he only remembers that he wrote the lyrics to sound like the music.
Åkerfeldt said that "The Twilight Is My Robe" used to be called "Oath" and "is a satanic song. Like an oath to Satan." He also said that one part of the song is "a complete rip-off
" of Scorpions
' "Fly to the Rainbow
". The most evil song on the album, said Lindgren, the lyrics for "Under the Weeping Moon" were "some kind of satanic worship of the moon. It doesn't really deal with anything", according to Åkerfeldt. He also complimented the melody of "The Apostle in Triumph" and considered it to be lyrically "a combination of nature and satanic worship". The longest song of the album, "In Mist She Was Standing", was the last song completed. The song is about a nightmare, and is inspired by the film Lady in Black.
The bonus track, "Into the Frost of Winter", is an early recording of the band during a 1992 rehearsal. The song contains some segments which were later reworked into "Advent", the opening track on their second album Morningrise
.
. The first pressing was released without the "Opeth" logo on the front cover. The photographs on the back were taken in Sörskogen
. Åkerfeldt stated that "we really were lucky as the sunset that evening, was probably the most beautiful one I had ever seen. We shot several cool shots that day, but those silhouette ones were the best."
. However, a problem arose: the lyric pages were the opposite to what Opeth had expected. The colours had been reversed, and the CD itself was blue instead of black. The band again expressed regret for this, but fans stated they liked how the colours looked.
Orchid was released on May 15, 1995 in Europe
by Candlelight Records
on CD, and on cassette
by Mystic Production. It was released on June 24, 1997 in the United States
by Century Black. It was reissued in 2000 in Europe by Candlelight and in the United States by Century Media, with one bonus track, "Into the Frost of Winter". In the same year, it was released as a double-LP vinyl
edition on Displeased Records
, limited to 1000 copies. A special edition was released by Candlelight in 2003.
Critical reaction to the album was mostly positive. Critic Matt Smith of Maelstrom wrote that it is one of best Opeth albums, and "it set the tone for the albums to come." Christian Renner of Metal Crypt, stated "One of the main things that struck me while listening to this album is the fact that I can't believe this is a debut album considering the depth and emotion displayed throughout every song on this disc. It just goes to show the massive amount of ability this band has." However, before Orchids release, according to Åkerfeldt:
John Serba of Allmusic said that Orchid was "quite an audacious release, a far-beyond-epic prog/death monstrosity exuding equal parts beauty and brutality -- an album so brilliant, so navel-gazingly pretentious that, in retrospect, Opeth's future greatness was a foregone conclusion." John Chedsey of Satan Stole My Teddybear stated that the album is "one of the more stunning and devastatingly powerful debuts of any metal band in any genre." Jim Raggi of Lamentations of the Flame Princess wrote that "perhaps the most easily recognizable voice in all of extreme metal
, Mikael Åkerfeldt really does make some noise in his debut. I can't think of very many vocalists in 1994 (when the album was recorded) who used both clean and growled vocals freely. I'm definitely not going to go so far as to say he was the first (Dan Swanö
did beat him on that at least!) but all those years ago, Åkerfeldt did set the standard for what the extreme progressive music vocalist should sound like". He added, "The fact is this album is a groundbreaking milestone in heavy metal
for the progressive elements that are thrown into the more metallic music and the extreme vocals" and the sound of the album is "completely unique". In Sea of Tranquility, Pete Pardo wrote, "Opeth journeyed into the Unisound
studio with Dan Swanö
to record what would be the first album in a line of classic progressive death metal albums". Rocknworld mentions that "Opeth had created a beast that was needed in a scene prone to stagnation, and continued to keep metal as a vanguard for daring originality". Chris Dick of Decibel stated in Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces that:
Not all critics were positive, however. The French magazine Metallian said the album was "boring and uneventful" and gave it 1/10. Johan DeFarfalla
stated that "from the death metal scene, they thought, 'Wow! This is cool!' From the educated musicians I knew, they said, 'This sucks. The sound is bad. You should re-record this.' But I think people really liked it, apart from the sound."
Technical death metal
Technical death metal is a musical subgenre of death metal that focuses on complex rhythms, riffs and song structures. Technical experimentation in death metal began in the late '80s and early '90s by bands such as Death, Atheist and Cynic...
band Opeth
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...
, released on May 15, 1995 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
by Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records is an independent record label based in Europe founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal and death metal, having bands such as Emperor,...
, and on June 24, 1997 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Century Black. It was reissued in 2000 with one bonus track called "Into the Frost of Winter", an early recording by the band. The recording sessions occurred at the old Unisound
Unisound
Unisound is a recording studio that used to be in Finspång but was closed down by Dan Swanö it because of his family but it was relocated to Örebro, Sweden into his Home....
studio, in Finspång
Finspång
Finspång is a locality and the seat of Finspång Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 12,415 inhabitants in 2005.-Overview:Finspång is a traditional industrial town. The first industries were established in 1580 when a Royal factory for cannon and cannon balls was chartered. The industry...
, between March and April 1994. Opeth produced alongside Dan Swanö
Dan Swanö
Dan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.As a multi-instrumentalist he is...
. The band did not record a demo to get signed to a record label. Lee Barrett, the founder of Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records is an independent record label based in Europe founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal and death metal, having bands such as Emperor,...
, enjoyed an Opeth rehearsal tape, and decided to sign the band.
In 1994, Opeth combined progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
, folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, black
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
and death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
in songs bordering to nine minutes, except for two instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
songs of short duration, and made an album that did not sound like anything else at the time. According to Rocknworld, with Orchid, Opeth "became the foremost purveyors of what would come to be known as extreme
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
progressive metal
Progressive metal
Progressive metal is a subgenre of heavy metal originating in the United Kingdom and North America in the late 1980s...
" and "exploded on the scene with a majestic style that reinvented what progressive meant." The album was well-received critically, even being called "unique".
Background
Opeth was formed in 1990 in StockholmStockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, by David Isberg
David Isberg
David Isberg is a Swedish musician, most famous for having founded seminal Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth. David Isberg is also known as DJ Dake, having a successful DJ career with independent and electronic music, often influenced by the magical Madchester scene...
. Isberg invited Mikael Åkerfeldt
Mikael Åkerfeldt
Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt is a Swedish musician who achieved fame as the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Opeth as well as the lead vocalist of death metal band Bloodbath. He was the vocalist and guitarist for the band Sörskogen and the guitarist of the band Steel...
(of the recently disbanded band Eruption) to join Opeth. The other members of the band took exception to this, and quit Opeth, leaving only Isberg and Åkerfeldt. Anders Nordin
Anders Nordin
Anders Nordin is a Brazilian drummer , best known for his work with progressive death metal band Opeth.Nordin was asked to join Opeth by Mikael Åkerfeldt, having previously played with him in another death metal band, Eruption...
, Nick Döring, and Andreas Dimeo were brought in as replacements. They rehearsed in a elementary school using old 60's equipment that they found there. Opeth played a show in February 1991, along with Therion
Therion
Therion, Greek for "wild animal" or "beast" , may refer to:* Therion, the name the Greeks gave to the constellation Lupus * Therion , the Swedish symphonic metal band* Therion , a god in Thelema, consort of Babalon...
, Excruciate and Authorise, in Stockholm. Only two songs were performed for their set. Åkerfeldt commented about the show: "I reckon it was probably the worst appearance one can have witnessed. We were so fucking nervous that we all wanted to cancel the fucking gig and just go back home."
The band played a second show in Gothenburg
Gothenburg
Gothenburg is the second-largest city in Sweden and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated on the west coast of Sweden, the city proper has a population of 519,399, with 549,839 in the urban area and total of 937,015 inhabitants in the metropolitan area...
. Döring and Dimeo had quit the band since the first show, so Opeth contacted two members of the band Crimson Cat, Kim Pettersson and Johan DeFarfalla
Johan DeFarfalla
Johan De Farfalla is a Swedish bass player. He is the former bassist of seminal Swedish art metal band Opeth....
, and asked them to join them onstage. Other bands playing the show were At the Gates
At the Gates
At the Gates is an extreme metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden, and a major progenitor of the Gothenburg death-metal sound. Their early albums lean towards a death metal sound, but later albums sound more like melodic death metal.Initially active from 1990 to 1996, the band reformed in 2007 for a...
, Therion, Desecrator, Megaslaughter and Sarcazm. After the show, DeFarfalla left Opeth to spend time with his girlfriend. He was replaced by Åkerfeldt's friend Peter Lindgren
Peter Lindgren
Peter Lindgren may refer to:*Peter Lindgren , Swedish actor*Peter Lindgren , Swedish heavy metal guitarist...
, who was playing in a joke band called Sylt i krysset. He accepted the offer to play bass in Opeth because he wanted to do something more serious. Pettersson later left the band, and Lindgren switched to guitar. Isberg quit in 1992, due to creative differences. Åkerfeldt became the new vocalist. He and Lindgren started writing material immediately. They rehearsed as a 3-piece for more than a year. Stefan Guteklint joined on bass, but left soon after the band signed its first record deal with Candlelight Records, in 1994.
Opeth were signed by Candlelight without a demo. For them, to go into the studio to record a demo was as big a step as going in to record an album. Åkerfeldt explained, "We didn’t have any money to spend on things like that. That would cost us, at least, a couple of hundred bucks... We didn't know where to go to record a demo." Åkerfeldt had sent out rehearsal tapes to several labels, but never received a reply. But the band received an offer from Lee Barrett to record an album. Åkerfeldt found it "quite weird." Anders Nyström
Anders Nyström
Anders Nyström, also known as Blakkheim is a Swedish musician who was born on April 22, 1975 in Stockholm.-Biography:...
(of Katatonia
Katatonia
Katatonia is a Swedish metal band formed in Stockholm in 1991 by Jonas Renkse and Anders Nyström .-1991-1993:The early Katatonia releases, such as the EP Jhva Elohim Meth.....
) said Candlelight was interested, based on a rumor from Samoth
Samoth
Samoth is a prominent musician and multi-instrumentalist in the Norwegian black metal scene. He was well known for his distinct guitar work and drumming in the band Emperor, as well as his formation of the death metal band Zyklon...
(of Emperor
Emperor (band)
Emperor was a Norwegian black metal band formed in 1991. They dissolved in 2001, but reunited in 2006 and again in 2007 for a few festival dates and brief US tours. The group was founded by Samoth and Ihsahn .-Biography:...
). Samoth had sent out a tape of unsigned bands to Barrett at Candlelight. It only had a few seconds of "The Apostle in Triumph". Barrett liked it so much he wanted to sign the band. Later, Åkerfeldt received a call from Barrett, who wanted to release a full-length album by Opeth.
Recording and production
Orchid was recorded during March and April 1994 in FinspångFinspång
Finspång is a locality and the seat of Finspång Municipality, Östergötland County, Sweden with 12,415 inhabitants in 2005.-Overview:Finspång is a traditional industrial town. The first industries were established in 1580 when a Royal factory for cannon and cannon balls was chartered. The industry...
, where the old Unisound
Unisound
Unisound is a recording studio that used to be in Finspång but was closed down by Dan Swanö it because of his family but it was relocated to Örebro, Sweden into his Home....
studio was located. Opeth moved from Stockholm to Finspång, where Dan Swanö
Dan Swanö
Dan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.As a multi-instrumentalist he is...
had rented an apartment for them. The studio was located in the cellar of a small house situated in the middle of a field. The album was produced and mixed by Swanö and the band, and engineered by Swanö. For the recording they had asked Johan DeFarfalla
Johan DeFarfalla
Johan De Farfalla is a Swedish bass player. He is the former bassist of seminal Swedish art metal band Opeth....
to play session
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
bass guitar. He eventually became a full-time member.
Despite the nervousness of the band members, the recording sessions ran smoothly. However, the band regretted not having enough time to record the acoustic piece "Requiem". The song was first recorded at Unisound, but the band was unhappy with the result. "Requiem" was then recorded in a studio in Stockholm with Pontus Norgren
Pontus Norgren
Karl Pontus Norgren is the current guitarist of the Swedish power metal band HammerFall and formerly played guitar for The Poodles.- Biography :...
acting as co-producer. Due to a mix-up in Orchids mastering process
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
, the end of "Requiem" was placed at the beginning of "The Apostle in Triumph". The band has expressed regret for this, and said it was no fault of their own.
Musical style and lyrical themes
The music in Orchid combines elements influenced by progressive rockProgressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
and acoustics pieces of folk music
Folk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
to the black metal
Black metal
Black metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music. Common traits include fast tempos, shrieked vocals, highly distorted guitars played with tremolo picking, blast beat drumming, raw recording, and unconventional song structure....
scream and the death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
growl, as well having clean vocals. It also contains influences from jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and melodic passages played by a piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
and acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
s. Opeth sounded much different than the casual black or death metal bands at that time and it's the closest album that the band came to the black genre. Orchid is the album that best represented the Opeth's diverse influences and it is the rawest, according to Rocknworld. Critics describes the sound of the album as it being "unique". Jim Raggi wrote "If you're wanting the more deathy and song oriented Opeth, skip down to My Arms Your Hearse and go from there. If you're looking for a unique journey of music built alternately around dual guitar harmonies knocking into sequences when the two guitars and the bass are all playing different parts, stop-start transitions at times and smooth here-to-theres at others, here you go." Matt Smith stated that "with Orchid, the band introduced its blend of intricate, down-tempo acoustic guitar and piano lines and swinging, Celtic-sounding, distorted rhythms."
Most songs of the album exceeds nine minutes, but there are two instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
songs of short duration. These two instrumental songs are "Silhouette" and "Requiem". The first song was recorded just hours before they were leaving the studio and is a brief piano interlude. They were impressed that Anders Nordin
Anders Nordin
Anders Nordin is a Brazilian drummer , best known for his work with progressive death metal band Opeth.Nordin was asked to join Opeth by Mikael Åkerfeldt, having previously played with him in another death metal band, Eruption...
played the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
very well. Lindgren said, "I remember the look on Dan's face when we said, 'Our drummer can play the piano.' He didn't believe a word we were saying. Dan can play the piano. Most guys play like shit. When Anders started playing, Dan was actually impressed." Åkerfeldt later said, "I'm still quite impressed." The another song is an acoustic epic, according to Lindgren. Åkerfeldt borrowed a Spanish acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
called a Trameleuc from a guitar store to play the song.
After the members left Opeth, Mikael Åkerfeldt
Mikael Åkerfeldt
Lars Mikael Åkerfeldt is a Swedish musician who achieved fame as the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Opeth as well as the lead vocalist of death metal band Bloodbath. He was the vocalist and guitarist for the band Sörskogen and the guitarist of the band Steel...
and David Isberg
David Isberg
David Isberg is a Swedish musician, most famous for having founded seminal Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth. David Isberg is also known as DJ Dake, having a successful DJ career with independent and electronic music, often influenced by the magical Madchester scene...
began to write the songs. Åkerfeldt commented about: "As you might understand I was more or less influenced by the occult back then, although in no serious manner. Music wise I was really into the twisted, dark, and evil-sounding riffs. The lyrics written by both me and David were pure Satanic chantings!" According to Åkerfeldt, "the idea for Opeth
Opeth
Opeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...
was for it to be evil—satanic lyrics and evil riffs. I chose my notes so they sounded evil." The first two songs that Åkerfeldt and Isberg wrote were "Requiem of Lost Souls" and "Mystique of the Baphomet" (later "Mark of the Damned" and later "Forest of October"). When Isberg quit the band, Åkerfeldt and Peter Lindgren
Peter Lindgren
Peter Lindgren may refer to:*Peter Lindgren , Swedish actor*Peter Lindgren , Swedish heavy metal guitarist...
"really felt that we had found a real original way of playing. There were at the time almost no other band [sic] using that many harmonies as we did." "Forest of October" "is the best song on the album", according to Lindgren. Åkerfeldt says he doesn't remember what it is about, and that he only remembers that he wrote the lyrics to sound like the music.
Åkerfeldt said that "The Twilight Is My Robe" used to be called "Oath" and "is a satanic song. Like an oath to Satan." He also said that one part of the song is "a complete rip-off
Rip-Off
Rip-Off is a top-down vector shoot 'em up arcade game released by Cinematronics in 1980. It is the first shoot 'em up arcade game to feature cooperative gameplay and to exhibit flocking behavior.-Gameplay:...
" of Scorpions
Scorpions (band)
Scorpions are a heavy metal/hard rock band from Hannover, Germany, formed in 1965 by guitarist Rudolf Schenker, who is the band's only constant member. They are known for their 1980s rock anthem "Rock You Like a Hurricane" and many singles, such as "No One Like You", "Send Me an Angel", "Still...
' "Fly to the Rainbow
Fly to the Rainbow
-Personnel:Scorpions*Klaus Meine – lead vocals*Ulrich Roth – lead guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "Drifting Sun" and co lead-vocals in "Fly To The Rainbow"...
". The most evil song on the album, said Lindgren, the lyrics for "Under the Weeping Moon" were "some kind of satanic worship of the moon. It doesn't really deal with anything", according to Åkerfeldt. He also complimented the melody of "The Apostle in Triumph" and considered it to be lyrically "a combination of nature and satanic worship". The longest song of the album, "In Mist She Was Standing", was the last song completed. The song is about a nightmare, and is inspired by the film Lady in Black.
The bonus track, "Into the Frost of Winter", is an early recording of the band during a 1992 rehearsal. The song contains some segments which were later reworked into "Advent", the opening track on their second album Morningrise
Morningrise
Morningrise is the second studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth. It was released on June 24, 1996 in Europe by Candlelight Records and on June 24, 1997 in the United States by Century Black. The recording sessions took place at Unisound studio, in Örebro, between March and April...
.
Cover
When the recordings were completed, the band immediately started working on the cover layout. Åkerfeldt had been in contact with the photographer Torbjorn Ekebacke for a while, and learned that Ekebacke also created graphic layouts. He was asked to provide a layout for Orchid. Opeth ordered the orchid seen on the cover from the NetherlandsNetherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. The first pressing was released without the "Opeth" logo on the front cover. The photographs on the back were taken in Sörskogen
Sörskogen
Sörskogen was a Swedish progressive rock project Mikael Åkerfeldt of Opeth and Dan Swanö started for fun. Both musicians are known for their wide musical interests. The project was supposedly named after a small community near the Stockholm suburb Huddinge where Mikael practiced with his first band...
. Åkerfeldt stated that "we really were lucky as the sunset that evening, was probably the most beautiful one I had ever seen. We shot several cool shots that day, but those silhouette ones were the best."
Release and reception
After finishing the layout, the band sent the album to EnglandEngland
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. However, a problem arose: the lyric pages were the opposite to what Opeth had expected. The colours had been reversed, and the CD itself was blue instead of black. The band again expressed regret for this, but fans stated they liked how the colours looked.
Orchid was released on May 15, 1995 in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
by Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records
Candlelight Records is an independent record label based in Europe founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal and death metal, having bands such as Emperor,...
on CD, and on cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
by Mystic Production. It was released on June 24, 1997 in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
by Century Black. It was reissued in 2000 in Europe by Candlelight and in the United States by Century Media, with one bonus track, "Into the Frost of Winter". In the same year, it was released as a double-LP vinyl
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
edition on Displeased Records
Displeased Records
Displeased Records is a Dutch independent record label, founded by Lars Eikema and Ron Veltkamp. The label has many Dutch and other extreme metal bands on its roster, but has also rereleased many classic albums, including albums by Agathocles , Cryptopsy, Infernäl Mäjesty, Sadus, Toxik and Whiplash...
, limited to 1000 copies. A special edition was released by Candlelight in 2003.
Critical reaction to the album was mostly positive. Critic Matt Smith of Maelstrom wrote that it is one of best Opeth albums, and "it set the tone for the albums to come." Christian Renner of Metal Crypt, stated "One of the main things that struck me while listening to this album is the fact that I can't believe this is a debut album considering the depth and emotion displayed throughout every song on this disc. It just goes to show the massive amount of ability this band has." However, before Orchids release, according to Åkerfeldt:
John Serba of Allmusic said that Orchid was "quite an audacious release, a far-beyond-epic prog/death monstrosity exuding equal parts beauty and brutality -- an album so brilliant, so navel-gazingly pretentious that, in retrospect, Opeth's future greatness was a foregone conclusion." John Chedsey of Satan Stole My Teddybear stated that the album is "one of the more stunning and devastatingly powerful debuts of any metal band in any genre." Jim Raggi of Lamentations of the Flame Princess wrote that "perhaps the most easily recognizable voice in all of extreme metal
Extreme metal
Extreme metal is a loosely defined umbrella term for a number of related heavy metal music subgenres that have developed since the early 1980s. The term usually refers to a more abrasive, harsher, underground, non-commercialized style or sound nearly always associated with genres like black metal,...
, Mikael Åkerfeldt really does make some noise in his debut. I can't think of very many vocalists in 1994 (when the album was recorded) who used both clean and growled vocals freely. I'm definitely not going to go so far as to say he was the first (Dan Swanö
Dan Swanö
Dan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.As a multi-instrumentalist he is...
did beat him on that at least!) but all those years ago, Åkerfeldt did set the standard for what the extreme progressive music vocalist should sound like". He added, "The fact is this album is a groundbreaking milestone in heavy metal
Heavy metal music
Heavy metal is a genre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s, largely in the Midlands of the United Kingdom and the United States...
for the progressive elements that are thrown into the more metallic music and the extreme vocals" and the sound of the album is "completely unique". In Sea of Tranquility, Pete Pardo wrote, "Opeth journeyed into the Unisound
Unisound
Unisound is a recording studio that used to be in Finspång but was closed down by Dan Swanö it because of his family but it was relocated to Örebro, Sweden into his Home....
studio with Dan Swanö
Dan Swanö
Dan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.As a multi-instrumentalist he is...
to record what would be the first album in a line of classic progressive death metal albums". Rocknworld mentions that "Opeth had created a beast that was needed in a scene prone to stagnation, and continued to keep metal as a vanguard for daring originality". Chris Dick of Decibel stated in Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces that:
Not all critics were positive, however. The French magazine Metallian said the album was "boring and uneventful" and gave it 1/10. Johan DeFarfalla
Johan DeFarfalla
Johan De Farfalla is a Swedish bass player. He is the former bassist of seminal Swedish art metal band Opeth....
stated that "from the death metal scene, they thought, 'Wow! This is cool!' From the educated musicians I knew, they said, 'This sucks. The sound is bad. You should re-record this.' But I think people really liked it, apart from the sound."
Track listing
Opeth
- Mikael ÅkerfeldtMikael ÅkerfeldtLars Mikael Åkerfeldt is a Swedish musician who achieved fame as the lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Opeth as well as the lead vocalist of death metal band Bloodbath. He was the vocalist and guitarist for the band Sörskogen and the guitarist of the band Steel...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, leadLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, rhythmRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
and acousticAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
guitars - Peter LindgrenPeter Lindgren (musician)Peter Lindgren is a Swedish musician and songwriter. He is best known as the former guitarist of Swedish progressive death metal band Opeth...
– rhythm, lead and acoustic guitars - Johan DeFarfallaJohan DeFarfallaJohan De Farfalla is a Swedish bass player. He is the former bassist of seminal Swedish art metal band Opeth....
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Anders NordinAnders NordinAnders Nordin is a Brazilian drummer , best known for his work with progressive death metal band Opeth.Nordin was asked to join Opeth by Mikael Åkerfeldt, having previously played with him in another death metal band, Eruption...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
Production
- OpethOpethOpeth is a Swedish heavy metal band from Stockholm, formed in 1990. Though the group has been through several personnel changes, singer, guitarist, and songwriter Mikael Åkerfeldt has remained Opeth's driving force throughout the years...
– productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, mixingAudio mixing (recorded music)In audio recording, audio mixing is the process by which multiple recorded sounds are combined into one or more channels, most commonly two-channel stereo. In the process, the source signals' level, frequency content, dynamics, and panoramic position are manipulated and effects such as reverb may...
, artworkCover artCover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e... - Dan SwanöDan SwanöDan-Erland Swanö is a Swedish musician who is currently the vocalist, guitarist, ex-bassist and ex-drummer for the band Nightingale as well as the Owner of Unisound but he achieved fame as the vocalist and songwriter of progressive death metal band Edge of Sanity.As a multi-instrumentalist he is...
– production, engineering, mixing - Pontus NorgrenPontus NorgrenKarl Pontus Norgren is the current guitarist of the Swedish power metal band HammerFall and formerly played guitar for The Poodles.- Biography :...
– co-production on "Requiem" - Torbjorn Ekebacke – artworkCover artCover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...
, photographyPhotographyPhotography is the art, science and practice of creating durable images by recording light or other electromagnetic radiation, either electronically by means of an image sensor or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film...
Release history
| Region | Year | Label | Format | Catalog |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
1995 | Candlelight Records Candlelight Records Candlelight Records is an independent record label based in Europe founded by former Extreme Noise Terror bassist Lee Barrett, though it has had a division in the United States since January 2001. Candlelight Records specialises in black metal and death metal, having bands such as Emperor,... |
CD | Candle010CD |
| Poland Poland Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north... |
1995 | Mystic Production | cassette Compact Cassette The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel... |
003 |
| United States United States The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district... |
1997 | Century Black | CD | 7845-2 |
| United Kingdom | 2000 | Candlelight Records | CD | CANDLE053CD |
| Netherlands Netherlands The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders... |
2000 | Displeased Records Displeased Records Displeased Records is a Dutch independent record label, founded by Lars Eikema and Ron Veltkamp. The label has many Dutch and other extreme metal bands on its roster, but has also rereleased many classic albums, including albums by Agathocles , Cryptopsy, Infernäl Mäjesty, Sadus, Toxik and Whiplash... |
double LP Gramophone record A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove... |
D-00081 |
| United Kingdom | 2003 | Candlelight Records | CD | CANDLE053TIN |