Orchid

Orchid is an American screamo band from Amherst, Massachusetts, active from 1997. The group forms at Hampshire College in Amherst, where the members are studying in early 1998. Its line-up includes Jayson Green, Will Killingsworth, Jeffrey Salane, Brad Wallace and Geoff Garlock.

Style and significance

The band is first and foremost a hardcore act, but its music also draws on emo, screamo, powerviolence and grindcore. It becomes closely associated with emoviolence, a term that describes a fast, chaotic approach combining blast beats, distorted tremolo picking, octave riffing and high-pitched vocals. Their sound is also shaped by a post-modern aesthetic, and the songs are typically very short and erratic. Among the influences they cite are the German bands Systral and Carol, while the Canadian group One Eyed God Prophecy is often noted as a major source of inspiration. Michel Foucault is also listed among the band’s influences.

Recordings and releases

Orchid releases a number of splits, including recordings with The Red Scare, Jeromes Dream, Combatwoundedveteran, Encyclopedia of American Traitors and Pig Destroyer. Its major releases include the 10-inch Dance Tonight! Revolution Tomorrow! and the LP Chaos Is Me, both on Ebullition Records. These two releases also appear together as a single album on the same label. The band’s final release before its break-up is a self-titled album, commonly known as Gatefold, also issued by Ebullition Records. A posthumous compilation, Totality, appears on Clean Plate Records and gathers the singles, split releases, compilation tracks and songs from the Dance Tonight... sessions.

After the band

Former members go on to form Wolves, Panthers, Ampere, Bucket Full of Teeth and Transistor Transistor. Will Killingsworth later opens Clean Plate Records and founds Dead Air Studios, a recording and producing facility focused on hardcore and independent music. Orchid’s last shows take place in several cities during the summer of 2002, with the final performance at the Advocate in Harvard Square, Boston.