The band was formed while Jayson Green, Will Killingsworth, and Brad Wallace were studying at Hampshire College, and Jeff Salane was attending the University of Massachusetts Amherst in early 1998.

[4] Jayson Green later formed a hardcore punk supergroup named Violent Bullshit, with members of Black Army Jacket and the Fiery Furnaces.

[9] Orchid's musical style (which primarily has been described as hardcore punk and screamo) is highly dissonant, fast, and chaotic.

[12][4] It combines the melodic and poetic approach of post-hardcore[13] and emo[14] with the extremity of powerviolence (a fusion sometimes termed emoviolence) and grindcore.

[4] Lars Gotrich of NPR music credited Orchid (alongside bands Pg 99, Circle Takes the Square and Majority Rule) as being prominent influences on emotional post-hardcore.

[18] Letters of Marque covered "Lights Out" on Spring Roots & Lullabies, a charity compilation for Trans Lifeline released in 2023.