Disco de Opeth: “Orchid”

Orchid is an amazing and successful debut, but should not have been unexpected considering the brilliance and maturity of Opeth. At this point Opeth came out of nowhere: no demos were needed to sign this band to Candlelight. All that was needed was a rehearsal tape. This release shows why. I never would have guessed that this was a debut album. The songs are complex and mature, the melodies are well thought out and emotional, and the production is flawless. This description ultimately doesn't do justice to the music, though. As many people say, you need to hear an Opeth album to believe it. This is my second favorite Opeth album, after the new "Still Life". The albums are years apart and really have no business being compared to each other, so I won't. Orchid strikes out against two increasingly sterile and bland genres: death metal and black metal. Many say it is a combination of the two, but it isn't. The sound is simply reminiscent of the two genres. The guitars are beautifully harmonious and clear, utilizing a "black metal sound", but really have nothing to do with black metal. Some parts of the songs use the fast, but technical aspect of death metal, but again, in no way represent death metal itself. Opeth define their own genre here, and revel in it. The music soars with delight sometimes, and at others is simply depressing. They are masters of achieving emotion through music and lyrics. It's hard to know if you're going to like this album. I've noticed that most, if not all fans of Opeth avoid trends and popular bands. If you're that type of person and you enjoy acousic guitar, black/death metal, and have an open mind, I'd suggest trying this album out. It's the beginning of an incredible band, and at the same time a testament to their genius.

Well, I do agree with most people saying Opeth is neither Black, nor Death, nor Gothic, nor whatever genre of Metal there is. But I say this, Opeth is metal. It may be Classical Metal, if there's such thing, however it would be really close minded to try to classify Opeth to one single genre. Metal predominates, this is heavy music. But you can see jazz, blues, 70s, etc influences. The accoustic passages are nothing short of beautiful. Opeth did nothing more and nothing less than to create its own niche in (metal) music, where it fits perfectly.

The first Opeth album I heard was Morningrise. After years, I still believe that it's their best. However, I haven't heard Orchid until I've gotten My Arms Your Hearse, and Still Life. I thought, aw well, usually debuts are half baked, nothing good. Man, was I wrong. I was so wrong, and I can't forgive myself that I willingly deprived myself of discovery of this gem for such a long time.

It's hard to describe Orchid. It's hard to describe Opeth'ian music (if not impossible). I'm very biased towards Opeth, I really can't see anything wrong in any, I repeat, any song. Orchid is beautiful. The soft side of Orchid is stunning. Akerfeldt delivers astonishing clean vocals, not to mention his Death growl. If I hadn't known this is a debut album, I wouldn't ever guess/think it is. The song structure is so mature, composition is awesome, the instruments are played with such musicmanship its hard to understand how is it possible to coordinate and such flawless flowing melodies. Every time I listen to Opeth, I find something new that I didn't disover before.

The only downside to Opeth is that it takes a few listens to become addicted to their music. It's like peeling an onion, first it seems like a rugged, strange surface, but after each layer (listen) you can see the beauty. Only, onions aren't beautiful, but its the best analogy I could find :)

Off topic: I find it very sad that Johan DeFarfalla (bass on Orchid, Morningrise) and Anders Nordin (drums on Orchid, Morningrise) left the band after their sophomore release. I know that Martin Mendez (bass replacement for DeFarfalla), and Martin Lopez (drums replacement for Nordin) are both excellent musicians, but I miss that bass sound, which is so predominant with DeFarfalla, I've never heard bass be so elegant before, just listen to Morningrise, and you'll see what I mean. And the drums are _excellent_ on both albums where Nordin participated, while the "new" drummer can replicate it flawlessly, there was still a different touch before. Opeth never released another 2 albums that could equate to Orchid and Morningrise. The sequence for best Opeth albums for me is: Morningrise, Orchid, MAYH, Blackwater Park, Still Life. But Opeth is Opeth, everything they do, shines.

In short, buy Orchid. Stunning work. There won't be another, so don't waste time, get it and immerge yourself in Opethian world of sorrow, death, beauty, sadness and tears. Long live Opeth.

First of all, THIS IS NOT BLACK METAL PEOPLE!! The guitars are not black metal, the subject matter is not black metal, I suppose you could consider it gothic at most. As a matter of fact, this is hardly metal. This is neo-classical composition, and it is far too rich to be called "just metal". Not that I'm not a fan of bands like Morbid Angel and Death because I am and I really respect their music. What sets Opeth apart from death metals acts like Morbid Angel and Death (very progressive though they may be) is that their albums, or their early albums at least are not brutally harsh, and they focus 100% of the content on melody and harmony. I'm the first one to agree that Eric Rutan's solo on "God of the Forsaken" (Morbid Angel, Gateways to Annihilation)) is extremely beautiful and melodic. On the other hand, every second of Orchid is melodic and beautiful, as opposed to just 30 some odd seconds of it. I've come to the conclusion that the level of richness and intensity of this recording is on the same level, if not beyond in some ways, that of the classical composers. After all, it's rather arrogant to say that our modern musicians and composers are not up to par with those of the past. Anyway, with all of that ranting and raving aside, Orchid as well as Morningrise are two breath taking and moving albums. The material here is truely of a different breed. What's interesting about these early Opeth albums, and their recent albums for that matter, is that there are few real "guitar solos", much in the way that classical composition was not based so much on "solos" as it was on the overall effect of the composition. There is, however, a constant harmonic interplay between each of the tonal instruments. What really tempts people to classify this as Death Metal, or Black Metal is the atonal aspect of the music. It's a fact, the majority of the vocals on this album, and on Morningrise, are of a variety that could be considered to be either Death Metal vocals or Black Metal vocals, or a derivative of the two. This alone does not make Opeth a Death Metal band, or a Black Metal band, or even a metal band for that matter. The atonal vocals are used to great effect. Interestingly, these are truely my favorite death vocals, very resonant (I really like that)...and from a band that isn't really even a death band. The real treat though is clearly the excelent clean vocals. Warm and folkie, they emphasize the warm (and very un-death-metal) feel of the album. I suppose that the lyrics could be construed, by some stretch of the imagination, as being somewhat along the lines of some Black Metal lyrics. Even still, Opeth's lyrics are much too abstract, and poetic to be lumped in with those of bands like Cradle of Filth and Dimmu Borgir. Anyway, I'm not too terribly concerned with lyrics...I'm not a poet, I'm a musician. As far as comparison to Morningrise, Orchid is much more accessible and instantly pleasing. On the other hand, I've found that Morningrise is properly developed to a greater degree than Orchid, although it is a bit more challenging to listen to initially. Morningrise is very cozy, where as Orchid is a bit cooler and crisper, although still warm and comforting. Both albums have a sense of distinct creativity. On Morningrise, I really like how short lyrical phrases were delivered in death vocals, and then immediately repeated in clean vocals... AWESOME!! Nothing shocked me more on Orchid than the combination of double-pedal bass drum with accoustic guitar...quite a shock the first time you hear it. One thing that I found interesting about these compositions is their production. Both guitars are pan-ed completely dead left and dead right respectively. E.G., if you are listening with only one speaker in stereo, you will not hear the other guitar at all (that's how I discovered that one of the speakers on my grandfather's stereo was broken, lol). Anyway, this relates to the composition in that one guitar seems to take on a dominant melodic role, where as the other guitar seems to play a supportive harmonic role. Often times though, the two guitars seem to switch roles in the middle of a melodic phase. For example, at one moment, the melody seems to be carried by the RIGHT guitar, and the next moment, the melody is in the LEFT guitar. A MIND BLOWING MUSICAL EXPERIENCE, if you can't imagine what I'm trying to describe. In conclusion, this is a very intense album (as is Morningrise, and I reallize that it's unnecesary to mention that album again). Don't misinterpret what I'm saying. This is rather heavy music, but not in such an overbearing way, as most metal tends to be. I honestly and whole-heartedly have a strong love for this band and for their work. I feel that they are clearly on a different level than the majority of modern artists. I strongly recommend this album to anyone who has an adventurous musical heart, and I feel that Orchid is the best introduction to Opeth. I guarantee that you'll love this album if you're a lover of music, and I also guarantee that you'll shortly become addicted and need Morningrise in your collection as well. I also recommend this to listeners who are not fans of heavy metal. This is just too good to pass up...

Orchid is my least favorite Opeth album, but I'd feel like a blasphemer to give anything by this out-of-this-world band any less than four stars. The production is a little lacking, and Akerfeldr's growls come out more like black-metal screams, but there's absolutely nothing wrong with it aside from that. Opeth is a band that seems to get better every time, with the exception of their second album Morningrise, which I doubt they'll ever top, so it's kinda to be expected that their debut wouldn't be all that stunning. However, I will emphasize that it is FAR better than anything you'll find on the mainstream music scene. If you're a Linkin Park fan, you'll not understand nor appreciate why this is great music.

Why is it a good album? The songs are lengthy, but they do not get boring. Peter Lindgren is an amazing guitarist, whether he's playing an electric or acoustic guitar. The guitars don't sound as heavy as you might expect from a death metal band, but the term "death" metal seems so wrong for a band as brilliant as Opeth. Melodic death, however, is a subgenre that is totally different than traditional death, and the keyword is "melodic," a term that this album defined. Would it be wise to start your Opeth collection here? Well, that depends. If you do start with Orchid, you'll only appreciate later releases more. But if you want to start with their all-time best, then go for Morningrise, Still Life, or Deliverance. But Orchid is without doubt worthy of having in your music collection. Like everything by these four amazing Swedes, it's got a special place in mine.

Absolute brilliance. No band in the 90's can compare to the godly band known as "Opeth". They are simply the greatest band in music today...The melodies are beautiful, the growling is a very nice compliment to the guitar harmonies on this debut release...and my god, this is their debut...tell me another band who's debut is this original and incredible...This album should not be sold in stores, it deserves some work to get it, it must be ordered...Anyone looking for some really heavy, yet melodic music with alot of acoustic passages, check out this cd. You won't regret it, and if you do, you're not human...ORRRRRDDDEEERRRR IIITTTTT!!!!!!and once you have that, order Morningrise...then get the other masterpieces.