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Opeth
Orchid


4.5
superb

Review

by Shadows USER (89 Reviews)
January 17th, 2005 | 1301 replies


Release Date: 1995 | Tracklist


Normally, when four musicians of similar musical ideas and perspectives come together, they form a band. Yet sometimes, they form so much more then that. Sometimes, what comes together becomes a full musical experience. It becomes much more then just another band you listen to; it becomes a way of life. An experience that shapes you, showing you a whole new world - one that would have seemed too amazing to be possible.

Such is the case of Opeth, a death metal quartet that hails from the land of Stockholm, Sweden.

Their name had been taken from the book Sunbird, which was written in 1972 by Wilbur Smith, but was originally spelled Opet. The original meaning of Opet was "city of the moon".

Opeth first began in 1990 in Stockholm, Sweden by Mikael Akerfeldt on guitar and David Isberg on vocals. Soon afterward, Anders Nordin joined on drums and Nick Doring came in on bass. Finally, second guitarist Anderas Dimeo came aboard. The line-up lasted about a year - after a single gig, Anders and Nick quit only to be replaced by Kim Pettersson and Johan DeFarfalla. Once again, Kim left after a mere one gig. For the next show, they had recruited Peter Lindgren to play bass, but after Kim left, Peter switched back to his first instrument, guitar. In early 1992, David left the band. Since Mikael had been the vocalist for Eruption, he was unanimously chosen as the new vocalist. After spending a year as a trio, Stefan Guteklint joined a bass player, only to saty for about a year. After landing a deal with Candlelight Records, Stefan was kicked out of the band. In 1994, Orchid was recorded with DeFarfalla as a session bassist. The album was released in '95 with Dan Swano as engineer and Opeth themselves handling all the production.

I'm getting bored with the unforgiving factual crap, so on to the music.

In Mist She Was Standing - 10/10
This was the song that got me hooked on Opeth. It starts out with brutally melodic guitar work, and only gets better as the song gets heavier with Mikaels' trademark vocals. It soon transitions from heavy electric, to soft acoustic, and back again giving a sense of the death metal brutality with the strong sense of beauty. An amazing solo follows, and the rest of the song unfolds, becoming a metal epic that sticks on the mind of the listener with the classic Opeth style.

Under The Weeping Moon - 8/10
I very good follow-up to the last track. It starts out with eerie acoustic, and then leads to the other 8 minutes of the song which turn out to be heavier then IMSWS. This track seems focused less on melody and more on heaviness, but never ceases with the guitar solos or the musical style we've grown so accustomed to. Definitely not a track-skipper.

Silhouette - 7/10
Here we get our first taste of Anders' abilities as a pianist. Traditionally, Opeth instrumentals are short, and this is no exception. It's nice and soft, but somehow Anders seems to ba able to do so much with just a piano. But don't let it fool you. This song is still definitely metal - but more importently, Opeth.

Forest Of October - 7/10
This song starts out deceptively slow, but then seems to combine the first two tracks into one thirteen minute ballad. Nice and heavy, but never straying from the melodic qualities. So far, this track has focused more on acoustic playing then any other song. It also gives glimpses as to what Mikael can sound like outside of his Swedish screaming voice. So far, the album has definitely not proved a disappointment...

The Twilight Is My Robe - 7.5/10
Back to the melodies. This is another song that focuses more on being melodic then heavy, similar to IMSWS...until the vocals come in. After a few lines of lyrics, we see how creative Opeth can get with guitars. This song definitely adds to the variety of the album. The structure is very similar to the other song on the album, but the music itself is unquestionably worth a listen now an then.

Requiem - 5.5/10
I know many people are going to hate me for this. This another instrumental, and at just over one minute is easily the shortest song on the album. This is just as easily the weakest track on the album. Aside from some half-decent guitar riffs (the song is all acoustic, by the way), the song is really nothing special.

The Apostle In Triumph - 8.5/10
Sure as hell picks up after Requiem. AIT starts out with some of the coolest acoustic riffs I've ever heard. After a short break, it comes back with some laid back electric instruments. The song is made heavy soley by Mike's voice. But the music itself is relatively soft, and really nice sounding.

Into the Frost Of Winter - 9/10
This not originally on the album. After the reissue of Orchid in 2000, Opeth added this, a rare rehearsal recording of a 1992 session. {Parts of this song ended up on the morningrise song, "Advent". The rehearsal explains why the sound quality is so bad. But the song itself has nothing wrong with it's quality. This sh*t is heavy all the way through. Heavy riffs, heavy vocals, even the soft clean guitar parts are heavy. Although I was immediately turned off and confused by the lousy quality, just stop and listen to the music. The band really goes back to their death metal roots here, and proves that they don't need to go acoustic to make a good Opeth song.

And there it is. Opeth is an amazing band, and with Orchid we see that they were like that from the start. Although some of the tunes get kind of repetitive after a while, the music overall is a perfect blend of melody and heaviness. This is a definite must-have for anyone interested in death metal or Opeth (or even better, both!). This album is a metal epic that will live on through it's musical integrity.

Recommended tracks:
In Mist She Was Standing
The Apostle In Triumph
Into The Frost Of Winter

Overall rating - 3.5



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Comments:Add a Comment 
ROH
August 22nd 2005


16 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

Great review. I agree with you on everything in your review except I would've given The Twilight is my Robe a higher rating.



Though it isn't Opeth's best, it's a great album.





canadapantsman
August 27th 2005


236 Comments


i personally love requiem but then im a fan of classical music so huzzah


Shadows
Moderator
August 27th 2005


2530 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

I like classical too, but Requiem never did it for me. Who the hell told this guy he could review anyway? Man, he blows. He should be banned from all writing impliments. This guy truly sucks at writing.

Arrakakaka
October 19th 2005


685 Comments


Just started to grow on me.. Aaah.. Old Opeth is so spectacular.

Killtacular
October 19th 2005


1314 Comments


You're derned tootin. Just get the whole darned discography and save yourself the trouble of having to choose.

Serapheus
November 11th 2005


252 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

Bought Orchid today, my seventh Opeth album. Best album cover if only the logo wasnt on it. it's good needs sum time to grow on me...

Serapheus
November 25th 2005


252 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

It's grown on me...



This review certainly gets my vote.This Message Edited On 11.25.05

Toaster
November 25th 2005


343 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

The original didn't have the Opeth logo on it, I think. The rest of the art is pretty bad though.



I love Silhouette.

Shadows
Moderator
November 25th 2005


2530 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

The original just had an orchid. The Opeth logo was added onto the re-release. I really like this album.



And this is indeed an old review of mine.

Thor
February 4th 2006


10357 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

I have yet to hear this album, seeing as no CD stores near me have this.

Thor
February 12th 2006


10357 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

How dissapointing, it's hard to imagine only an "ok" Opeth album.

ocelot-05
February 12th 2006


807 Comments


The only song I have from this is Forest Of October. It's only ok.

Cravinov13
February 12th 2006


3854 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

Can anyone give me an Opeth list of what I should get after Blackwater Park and My Arms Your Hearse? I already have Ghost Reveries.

Thor
February 12th 2006


10357 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Still Life!

Killtacular
February 12th 2006


1314 Comments


Still Life
Deliverance
Morningrise annnnnnnnnd...
Damnation.

Should do you a bit of good.

Shadows
Moderator
February 12th 2006


2530 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

I just picked this up again after about a year. This is definitely more than "okay". The album has a kind of dreamlike quality that their later albums don't have. I love the acoustic playing on this.

Storm In A Teacup
February 12th 2006


46395 Comments


:mad: Hey, your online! Get your metal ass to my Shads review now!

Diabulus in musica
February 12th 2006


485 Comments


are they death metal or progressive?


Cravinov13
February 12th 2006


3854 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

both

nobodyblossomsforever
February 16th 2006


63 Comments

Album Rating: 2.5

This album was okay, but not the best of what Opeth can bring in their later albums.



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