Actually the band started out a little earlier, but to keep things simple we set the 'official' date of birth on the 26th of April 1995 ; the day the line up was complete. At that moment the band existed out of four permanent members : Dieter Rijmen (vocals/guitars), Johan Hillen (guitar), Jef Porto-Carrero (bass) and Daan Govaerts (drums). Their hometown : Zandhoven, a village 20 km from Antwerp, Belgium. With this strength Orchrist played several gigs (pe. With Enthroned, Avatar, The Darkening, Oceans of Sadness, Brutal Exposure, etc. …).

So the Group rambles on, gets kicked out of his rehearsal room twice, had some trouble with the mayor,but finds a home in the attic at Jef's. And at the end of 1997 some drastic changes take place ! Johan Hillen on the guitars is being replaced by 'Sarcasm' guitarist Robin Godrie. In May 1998 Orchrist records its first demo tape called 'Path to Glory' at the Soundshape Studios in Arendonk (Belgium).On this tape you can find four songs, good for 20 minutes of heavy whining , hitting pots and pans, raw trashmusic ( literal meaning of the word).

From then on the band decides to strike into a different way, and to take things a little more serious. The new songs are worked out much better and sound more Heavy/Death. Also in that period gigs don't take place frequently, what gives the band the chance to focus on making new and better songs.

Time passes by and after a while 'The Four' think the time has come to get in the (local ?) spotlight again. So in the summer of 2001 Orchrist enters the well-known Harrow Studios in Losser (the Netherlands) to record their first CD.
A few months later 'Echoes of the Void' is born ! ! ! A truly and greasy sounding album full with lashing, heavy flamboyant death metal !

Orchrist is a band that started out from nothing and is still here to exist, evolving throughout all these years. So, things can only get better !




Source : http://www.orchrist.com/index2.html