Biography

Orthrelm is a duo with Mick Barr

Mick Barr

Mick Barr is an American avant-garde metal guitarist. Notable for his relentless speed and agility on his instrument, he is most well known for being one half of the band Orthrelm, currently signed to Mike Patton's Ipecac Recordings label....

 on guitar

Guitar

The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 and Josh Blair on drums

Drum kit

A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

, experimenting in many forms of unconventional songwriting styles and musical concepts in general.

The band's members have released a few notable and significant releases since Orthrelm's inception, with projects such as Crom-Tech and Barr's solo side-project Octis. For example, their 2002 release Asristir Vieldriox

Asristir Vieldriox

Asristir Vieldriox is the name of an EP released by the American duo Orthrelm on 5th February 2002. Despite having 99 tracks on it , each one is only 5 to 15 seconds in length, therefore making the entire release only 13 minutes long in total...

is 13 minutes long with a total of 99 songs, each one averaging between 5 and 15 seconds in length. In contrast, the OV album features a single, 45-minute track based on extremely intense repetition, marrying the speed of grindcore

Grindcore

Grindcore is an extreme genre of music that started in the early- to mid-1980s. It draws inspiration from some of the most abrasive music genres – including death metal, industrial music, noise and the more extreme varieties of hardcore punk....

 and the repetition of Terry Riley

Terry Riley

Terrence Mitchell Riley, is an American composer intrinsically associated with the minimalist school of Western classical music and was a pioneer of the movement...

's brand of minimalism. The band have been chosen by Animal Collective

Animal Collective

Animal Collective is an experimental psychedelic band originally from Baltimore, Maryland, currently based in New York City. Animal Collective consists of Avey Tare , Panda Bear , Deakin , and Geologist...

 to perform at the All Tomorrow's Parties

All Tomorrow's Parties (music festival)

All Tomorrow's Parties is a music festival which takes place at Camber Sands holiday camp in East Sussex and Butlin's holiday camp in Minehead, Somerset, England....

 festival that they will curate in May 2011.

Albums

• Iorxhscimtor (2001; Tolotta Records
  Tolotta Records
  Tolotta Records was a record label run by Joe Lally of Fugazi. It was based in Arlington, Virginia and has released bands from Washington, D.C. and the surrounding area, such as Dead Meadow and Spirit Caravan. The label was founded in 1994 and came to an end in 2002 when Spirit Caravan broke up and...
  
  )
• Norildivoth Crallos Lomrixth Urthilnv (2002; Three One G
  Three One G
  31G Records, or Three One G, is a San Diego, California based record label, started by grindcore and hardcore musician Justin Pearson in 1994...
  
  )
• OV (2005; Ipecac Recordings
  Ipecac Recordings
  Ipecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999 by Greg Werckman and Mike Patton Ipecac Recordings is an independent record label based in California. It was founded on April 1, 1999 by Greg Werckman (ex-label manager of Alternative Tentacles,...
  
  )

Split EPs

• Orthrelm/Behold... the Arctopus
  Orthrelm / Behold... The Arctopus
  Orthrelm / Behold... The Arctopus is a split EP by Orthrelm and Behold... The Arctopus released in 2006 on Crucial Blast.-Track listing:#"PAINcave" - Behold... The Arctopus – 5:12#"Pithot 1" - Orthrelm – 3:34...
  
  (2006; Crucial Blast Releases)