Orchid (album)
Orchid | ||||
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Unisound (Finspång, Sweden) | ||||
Genre |
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Length | 65:26 | |||
Century Black | ||||
Producer |
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Opeth chronology | ||||
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Orchid is the debut studio album by Swedish
Background
Opeth was formed in 1990 in
The band played a second show in
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".[6] 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.[6] Later, Åkerfeldt received a call from Barrett, who wanted to release a full-length album by Opeth.[7]
Recording and production
Orchid was recorded during March 1994 in
Despite the nervousness of the band members, the recording sessions ran smoothly. "We were so ready before we went into the studio, we'd been rehearsing six or seven times a week, and we'd even been rehearsing in pitch black darkness in order to play the songs perfectly without even looking", Åkerfeldt recollected in 2009, speaking to
Musical style and lyrical themes
Music
The music in Orchid combines elements influenced by progressive rock 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 guitars.[1][12] Opeth sounded much different than the casual black or death metal bands at that time[13][14] and it's the closest album that the band came to the black genre.[14] Critics described 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."[12] 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."[15]
Most songs of the album exceed nine minutes, but there are two
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.[19]
Lyrics
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!"[3] 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."[20] 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").[3] 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."[5] "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.[16]
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".[16] 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,[17] and on the later The Roundhouse Tapes live album, he would describe the song's lyrics as "absolute black metal nonsense". He also complimented the melody of "The Apostle in Triumph" and considered it to be lyrically "a combination of nature and satanic worship".[18] 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 The Lady in Black.[21]
Cover and layout
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 Netherlands.[11] 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."[11]
Layout
The band already had one issue with the album about the mastering of "Requiem" (see Recording and production), a second problem arose with the album: 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.[11] After finishing the layout, the band sent the album to England.
Reception
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [1] |
Critical reaction to the album was mostly positive. Critic Matt Smith of Maelstrom said that it is one of the best Opeth albums, and "it set the tone for the albums to come".[15] However, before Orchid's release, according to Åkerfeldt:[22]
Most people, at least in the
Unisound, and Opeth, before the album came out, was considered a joke band. No one expected anything from us. The rumor wasn't great about us. Some of the early shows we did were awful and David Isberg, our singer who formed that band, wasn't liked too much. We didn't have a good vibe going about the band. We didn't have any friends in the scene. I didn't know anyone. We were total outsiders.
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".[1] 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."[23] 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".[12] Chris Dick of Decibel stated in Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces:[13][24]
Death metal, after its formative stages, wasn't averse to experimentation or the influence of other genres, but it never sounded as powerful, fearless or skilled as on Orchid ... Opeth's debut was, to quote frontman Mikael Åkerfeldt in 1993, a masterful hybrid of 'Wishbone Ash, Black Sabbath and Bathory.' ... It was inviting, abrasive and full of subtlety. Despite Symbolic, Slaughter of the Soul, Domination, The Gallery and Storm of the Light's Bane blowing minds in 1995, it was Opeth's Orchid that changed death metal forever.
— Chris Dick, Decibel
Not all critics were positive, however. French magazine Metallian said the album was "boring and uneventful" and gave it 1/10.[6] Johan De Farfalla 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."[6]
Track listing
All lyrics are written by
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
8. | "Into the Frost of Winter" | 6:20 |
Total length: | 71:46 |
Personnel
Credits for Orchid adapted from liner notes.[25]
Opeth
- Mikael Åkerfeldt – lead vocals, guitars
- Peter Lindgren – guitars
- Anders Nordin– drums, percussion, piano on "Silhouette"
- Johan De Farfalla – bass (tracks 1–7), backing vocals
Additional personnel
- Stefan Guteklint – bass guitar on "Into the Frost of Winter"
Production
- Opeth – mixing
- Dan Swanö – engineering, mixing
- Peter in de Betou – mastering
- Pontus Norgren – co-production on "Requiem"
- Torbjörn Ekebacke – artwork, photography
Release history
The release of Orchid was delayed, and with the band anxious to play gigs for the album, Opeth began performing a few shows when Lee Barrett of Candlelight Records led them to the United Kingdom. One of the performances was held at the London Astoria, and the show also featured Impaled Nazarene, Ved Buens Ende, and Hecate Enthroned.[26]
A year after the recording of the album, Orchid was released on 15 May 1995 in Europe by Candlelight Records on CD, and on
Region | Year | Label | Format | Catalog |
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United Kingdom | 1995 | Candlelight Records | CD | Candle010CD |
Poland | 1995 | Mystic Production | Cassette | 003 |
United States | 1997 | Century Black
|
CD | 7845-2 |
United Kingdom | 2000 | Candlelight Records | CD | CANDLE053CD |
Netherlands | 2000 | Displeased Records | Double LP | D-00081 |
United Kingdom | 2003 | Candlelight Records | CD | CANDLE053TIN |
Japan | 2008 | Avalon | CD | MICP-10807 |
References
- Mudrian, Albert (2009). Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces. ISBN 978-0-306-81806-6.
- ^ a b c d Serba, John. "Orchid Review". AllMusic. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
- ^ McIver, Joel (January 2008). "Pressing the Red Button". Metal Hammer.
- ^ a b c d e "Opeth Biography: Chapter II". Opeth.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ McIver, Joel (January 2008). "Pressing the Red Button". Metal Hammer.
- ^ a b c "Opeth Biography: Chapter III". Opeth.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ a b c d Precious Metal, p. 248
- ^ Precious Metal, p. 249
- ^ a b "Orchid Session Diary". Opeth.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2011.
- ^ a b c "Orchid". Opeth.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
- ^ "Treasure Chest. An Intimate Portrait of Life in Pop". Kerrang! (1245): 56. 24 January 2009.
- ^ a b c d "Orchid Session Diary 2". Opeth.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 19 June 2011.
- ^ a b c "Orchid Reviews". Opeth.com. Archived from the original on 17 June 2011. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
- ^ a b Dick, Chris. "Opeth "Orchid"". Decibel. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
- ^ a b Dupont, Filip (13 October 2005). "Orchid". Archaic Magazine. Retrieved 2 July 2011.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b Smith, Matt. "Review From The Vault Opeth-Orchid: Maelstrom Issue No 19". Maelstrom. Archived from the original on 22 September 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
- ^ a b c Precious Metal, p. 262
- ^ a b Precious Metal, p. 261
- ^ a b Precious Metal, p. 263
- ^ (2000) Album notes for Orchid by Mikael Åkerfeldt. Candlelight Records.
- ^ Precious Metal, p. 250
- ^ Precious Metal, p. 260
- ^ Precious Metal, p. 247
- ^ Chedsey, John (November 1997). "Orchid Review". Satan Stole My Teddybear. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2011.
- ^ Precious Metal, p. 246
- ^ (1995). "Orchid liner notes". In Orchid [CD booklet]. Candlelight.
- ^ "OPETH - Official Website - Biography - Chapter III". Archived from the original on 27 July 2014. Retrieved 14 November 2013.
- ^ Precious Metal, p. 245
- Amazon. Retrieved 9 July 2011.