Lykhaeon - Opprobrium - DOUBLE LP

On “Opprobrium”, Lykhaeon presents a stirring interpretation of a classic tale from Greek mythology, providing a musical and lyrical underpinning that allow this compelling story of desire, deception and the arrogance of immortals to sear through the listeners speakers and grasp them with an urgency rarely seen when delving into the selected source material. The musical scope of Opprobrium exceeds what is commonly exercised in modern extreme music to include unorthodox acoustic instrumentation and choir vocalisations that, albeit grand in presentation, are wholly necessary to appropriately convey the unfolding narrative.

When the lust of immortals becomes insatiable, it is frequently the realm of mortals that serves as the spring from which all desire can be quenched and any thirst satiated. Such is the fate of Persephone, who is - according to some tellings - the victim of a cruel ploy, a conspiracy incarnate, whereby her flesh is beset by the desire of the deity Hades. In his arrogance, appearing before her on a gilded chariot, treachery allows Hades to abduct the seed.

Lyrically, the tale of Persephone’s abduction by Hades and her eventual liberation, partially hindered by Hades’ final temptation, is composed in the form of a play, where the Chorus serves as an expository narrator alongside the characters of Hades, Zeus and Persephone. Each of the seven tracks on the album encompasses a short act, or rather a significant sequence of events driving the plot.

Lykhaeon was exhumed from its vermin infested crypt in 2013 and is affiliated with the Helvetic Underground Committee. This is the first - and thus far only - release that sounds how Lykhaeon should sound.