Orchid (album)

Opeth was formed in 1989 in Stockholm, Sweden, by David Isberg.[2] 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.[3] They rehearsed in an 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."[3]

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, De Farfalla 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.[3] Isberg quit in 1992, due to creative differences.[4] 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.[5]

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]

Orchid was recorded during March 1994 in Finspång, 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.[8] The album was produced and mixed by Swanö and the band, and engineered by Swanö.[9] For the recording they had asked Johan De Farfalla to play session bass guitar. He eventually became a full-time member.[5]

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 Kerrang![10] 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.[8] Due to a mix-up in Orchid's 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.[11]

Professional ratings

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 Swedish scene, were recording at 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.

— Mikael 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".[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]

All lyrics are written by Mikael Åkerfeldt; all music is composed by Åkerfeldt and Peter Lindgren except where noted.

The track "In Mist She Was Standing" is misspelt in the iTunes and Spotify versions by adding "the" between "in" and "mist".

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

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 cassette by Mystic Production.[9][27] It was released on 24 June 1997 in the United States by Century Black.[28] 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.[9]

• Mudrian, Albert (2009). Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces. Da Capo Press. ISBN 978-0-306-81806-6.