Halifax metal band closes the casket on their career after 20 years

Orchid's Curse is bringing their 20-year career to a close. (Source: Rick Tizzard)

Near the end of 2004, Josh Hogan was in the store Music World at a time, as he describes it, “when people still bought physical albums.” Hogan was talking with a group of metalheads about records when one of them asked him if he could sing. After a bit more talk, Hogan wound up auditioning for a metal band and secured the role as vocalist.

“We toyed with calling ourselves ‘October Crisis,’ then we realized there was a semi-active punk band in Quebec,” Hogan said. “I was pretty a big fan of ‘Twin Peaks’ and an episode was called ‘Orchid’s Curse.’ It was the first name we thought we could live with.”

Brian Jones, guitarist and one of the original founders of Orchid’s Curse, said it all started with him jamming with his friends in a basement. Once they got Hogan onboard, they released their debut album “Goodbye is when the Casket Closes” in 2006.

Nearly 20 years later, the Halifax-based metal band is ready to close that casket on their career.

“It felt like it was the right time to stop,” Jones said. “We’ve done more with this band than we ever thought we would when we started out. It’s time to move on. It’s a good thing.

“When I started this band, I was coming out of my teenager angst era and now I have teenagers.”

Jones said members have come and gone from the band and they have dabbled in different styles over the past two decades, but there has been one constant: A desire to make music they wanted to listen to.

“At the end of the day, I still write what I like,” he said. “If I like the sound of it, this is what it’s going to be.

“We never fit in with any other metal band around here. We had thrash, death metal, we were all over the map.”

Busy career

Hogan said the band did shows in Ontario and Quebec, but they primarily focused on the East Coast, keeping the headbanging scene alive as it rose and fell and rose again in popularity.

“The metal scene (in the Maritimes) has always had ebbs and flows,” he said. “We had a peak around 2010 and 2013 and then it picked up again post-COVID. What’s unique is there are a lot of young up and coming bands on tour.”

Over the years, the band put out six albums, with “The Decay,” released in 2023, being their most recent.

“‘The Decay’ would have to be my favourite,” Jones said. “We took a lot of time shaping it and working with it. It happened over COVID. We had nothing but time to tweak it.”

“Each record holds a special place but if I could only pick one, I’d pick ‘Words’ from 2013,” Hogan said. “That’s when we hit our stride.”

Many of the songs from their decades-spanning career will be blasted out of speakers at their farewell show at the Seahorse Tavern on Oct. 11. Despite some of the tunes dating back to the era of flip phones and Myspace, the group has had little trouble remembering how to play them.

“Playing these songs brings me back right there,” Jones said. “It’s weird going down memory lane. My hands know what they’re doing. Muscle memory is great.”

“Music is a place in time,” Hogan said. “It’s like a flashback.”

Big sendoff

While one casket closes, another door opens. That’s the plan for many members of Orchid’s Curse, who hope to remain active in the metal scene.

“I’m not done playing music,” Jones said. “Me and Alex our drummer are going to be embarking on a new musical project.”

Hogan is the co-founder of Red Tentacle Music Solutions, which seeks to help independent musicians and small businesses.

“I will step back from yelling into a microphone for a bit, but I’ll still be involved in the scene,” Hogan said.

But any future plans will have to wait until after the band’s sendoff in October, which they plan to make as big and loud as possible.

“We’re hoping to leave everyone with a really good time,” Jones said. “We want to leave on a good note. We want to go out with a bang.”

“It’s not a sombre event,” Hogan said. “It’s a celebration of playing music with my best friends.”

Orchid’s Curse will kick off their final show at 8 p.m. on Oct. 11.

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