Orchid is the debut studio album by Swedish progressive metal band Opeth, released on 15 May 1995 in Europe by Candlelight Records, and on 24 June, 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 unproduced rehearsal recording by the band. The recording sessions occurred at the old Unisound studio, in Finspång with production by Opeth 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. The album received critical acclaim.
Background
Opeth was formed in 1990 in Stockholm, 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 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."
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. 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.
Recording and production
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. The album was produced and mixed by Swanö and the band, and engineered by Swanö. For the recording they had asked Johan De Farfalla to play session bass guitar. He eventually became a full-time member.
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! 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 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.