Orchid is an American screamo band from Amherst, Massachusetts. Originally active from 1997 until 2002, they released several EPs and splits as well as three studio albums. The band consists of lead vocalist Jayson Green, drummer Jeffrey Salane, guitarist Will Killingsworth, guitarist Brad Wallace and bassist Geoff Garlock.
Orchid released three full-length albums during their initial run and played their final show on the same day as the release of their final album. The band reunited for a tour in 2024, their first shows in 22 years.
In 2005, a compilation album titled Totality was released posthumously. It comprised 24 tracks, featuring out-of-press and hard-to-find B-side and split EP materials that were previously only available on vinyl.[4]
Jayson Green later formed a hardcore punk supergroup named Violent Bullshit, with members of Black Army Jacket and the Fiery Furnaces.[5] Jayson Green, Will Killingsworth, and Geoff Garlock currently play together in the band Ritual Mess.[6]
The band received numerous offers to reunite, the most lucrative coming from Roadburn Festival in the Netherlands, but Green did not tell his bandmates as the band had been disinterested in coming back. After an interview with Machine Music[8] Green, Killingsworth and Wallace, the band began the process of reuniting.[9] In December 2023, Orchid announced a reunion and tour in 2024.[10] The band's first show in 22 years took place on May 5, 2024 at The Drake in Amherst, Massachusetts.[11] For their reunion shows, original bassist Brad Wallace rejoined the band as an additional guitarist.[9]
Style
Orchid's musical style (which primarily has been described as hardcore punk and screamo) is highly dissonant, fast, and chaotic.[12][4] It combines the melodic and poetic approach of post-hardcore[13] and emo[14] with the extremity of powerviolence (a fusion sometimes termed emoviolence) and grindcore.[14] Italian site "Emotional Breakdown" gave a positive review of Orchid's compilation album Totality, saying: "[Orchid] are the concentrated essence of the most poignant music you can imagine: the vocal cords that are pulled until they tear, the music sounds dark and desperate. They possess all these characteristics as the undisputed masters they have taught many proselytes, in all of their cynical splendor."[15]
Legacy
Orchid is regarded as a prominent and quintessential band in screamo.[4] Lars Gotrich of NPR music credited Orchid (alongside bands Pg 99, Circle Takes the Square and Majority Rule) as being prominent influences on emotional post-hardcore.[13] Green said, "we just called ourselves a hardcore band."[9]
Canadian post-hardcore band Silverstein covered "Destination: Blood" on their album Short Songs.[16] A tribute album, Epilogue of a Car Crash!, was released in 2013 on Dog Knights Productions.[17] Piet Onthel covered "Weekend At The Fire Academy" on their demo in 2018.[18] Letters of Marque covered "Lights Out" on Spring Roots & Lullabies, a charity compilation for Trans Lifeline released in 2023.[19]
Members
Jayson Green – vocals, keyboards, percussion (1997–2002, 2024–present)
Will Killingsworth – guitar, keyboards (1997–2002, 2024–present)
^ abGotich, Lars (August 17, 2011). "pg. 99: A Document Revisited". NPR. Retrieved December 30, 2011. [...]there's a renewed interest in the emotional post-hardcore that bands like pg. 99, Orchid, Circle Takes the Square and Majority Rule pioneered, mostly by an audience that was far too young to hear it the first time around.
^ abGreg, Pratt (September 22, 2010). "Altered States, Grindcore Special part 2". Terrorizer (181). United Kingdom: Miranda Yardley: 43. Another interesting sub-subgenre was this strange crossover of first-generation emo and grind. Bands like Reversal of Man or Orchid may not have stood the test of time, but it was a pretty cool sound at the time and one that was pretty uniquely American
^"Emotional Breakdown – Recension/Orchid – Totality" (in Italian). Emotional Breakdown. Archived from the original on January 7, 2008. Retrieved October 20, 2009. Italian: "[Orchid] trovate concentrata tutta l'essenza della musica più straziante che possiate immaginare: corde vocali tirato allo spasimo fino a strapparsi, suoni cupi e disperati. Ovvero tutte quelle caratteristiche che loro, da maestri indiscussi, hanno insegnato a tanti proseliti e che qui troviamo in tutto il loro cinico splendore."
