Orthrelm, a duo based in Washington, D.C., creates densely structured guitar-and-drum instrumentals that draw from the border zones of extreme metal, avant-garde jazz, and progressive rock, resulting in music of near-alien intricacy. The project began in the middle of 2000 after guitarist Mick Barr, previously a member of Crom-Tech, mailed drummer Josh Blair—who was living in New York at the time—a collection of pieces he had developed across several years and wished to finish. Blair supplied drum parts to match the material, and the completed recordings appeared on the Virginia-based Tolotta label as the Iorxhscimtor EP in 2001. Blair, whose background lies primarily in improvisation despite Orthrelm’s tightly arranged compositions, relocated to the D.C. region, enabling the pair to collaborate more directly on new material. Their output increased rapidly, yielding multiple releases over the following years. The first of these was Asristirveildrioxe, a 99-track, 12-minute work issued by Troubleman Unlimited in 2001; a split CD with the New York drum’n’bass duo Touchdown followed in 2002, also on Troubleman Unlimited. Subsequent recordings surfaced on Three One G in San Diego and Hydra Head in Boston. The duo maintained an active touring schedule, frequently appearing with the Locust, the Flying Luttenbachers, Lightning Bolt, Arab on Radar, Total Shutdown, Thoughtstreams, Pithot, and additional acts, often merging individual pieces into continuous 30-minute-or-longer suites that filled entire sets. Outside Orthrelm, Blair performs with the more improvisation-focused ABCs, while Barr pursues the solo project Octis, which occupies comparable sonic territory yet substitutes a drum machine for acoustic percussion.
