Behind The Artworks: Orchid Throne - Buried In Black (2025)

The cover for Buried in Black was painted by my good buddy Ryan Gassaway and is sort of an optical illusion. The “canvas” is actually a piece of particle wood, and the concept was to simply paint the black in the center to give the viewer the perception of gazing down into a dark hole. It almost looks like it could be bursting out or falling in, which I find really cool. In the center, there is a lone figure buried beneath the darkness. The outer edge is a border of painted fallen Autumn leaves, and to m,e what the cover represents is sort of “someone’s fall”. The season of Fall helps to represent this, not only with the word but with the idea of the season transitioning us into the cold winter world of the dead. The album stares into the black abyss and tackles difficult concepts for me to talk about, and brings some dark feelings to light. I think Ryan captured this idea perfectly.