Byzantine recently released a new album titled To Release Is To Resolve and of course it's awesome because it's Byzantine. However, I had no idea the song "The Agonies" was about overcoming an opiate addiction. According to vocalist and guitarist Chris Ojeda:
“The song title ‘The Agonies‘ is a street term for the severe withdrawal symptoms from prescription pain pill abuse. This subject is extremely personal for me, as this problem has infiltrated many good lives of people I know and grew up with. It’s an epidemic, plain and simple. It has taken my home state, which has always been known for being blue-collar, hardworking, tough as nails, and turned it into a pre-apocalyptic scene of the unemployed, the depressed and the hopeless.
My own hometown was once a place that we could leave our windows open on hot summer nights with no fear. Now my parents don’t feel safe in their home, just like most senior citizens. If you fit the demographic for having pain medication in your home, chances are pretty good that you also fit the demographic for being slain in your home by the same kids you watched play in your yard 15 years ago.”
