{"title":"Whited Sepulchre","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"a-theory-of-cloud","title":"A Theory of \/Cloud\/","description":"\u003cp\u003eSingers \/ multi-instrumentalists –– and husband-and-wife duo –– Rachel Nakawatase and Ryan Betschart, as Shrine Maiden, weave grinding slow-motion riffs and howling vocals through dark ambient soundscapes. Echoes of post-goth ethereal bands like Lycia and This Ascension abound in the occasionally dreamy, chorus-soaked, strumming reveries –– but explosions of doom-drone and blackened transcendence recall The Body, Thou, and other contemporary mavens of the rich ecosystem of experimental metal genres. Indeed, with \u003cem\u003eA Theory of \/Cloud\/\u003c\/em\u003e, Shrine Maiden have confidently taken their place within that thriving ecosystem.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eA Theory of \/Cloud\/\u003c\/em\u003e, as a whole, responds to Damisch’s idea that linear perspective, in its limitations, generates “an oppositional factor with which it interacts dialectically,” which Damisch termed “the cloud.” The band says: “We wanted to see how we could explore this idea sonically, where the cloud is our textured soundscapes, buried vocals, lyrics hidden within scream, our play with genre, language.” While this forms the record’s broader framework, individual moments throughout the record reflect on everything from weather and volcanoes to Roberto Bolaño and late-stage capitalism-induced anxiety and incorporate Rachel’s upbringing in the Hawaiian performing arts of hula (dance), mele (song), oli (chant), and pule (prayer). And through all of this conceptual complexity and aesthetic transcendence, there is also a celebration of the love that Nakawatase and Betschart have for each other. While terms like “dark” and “heavy” are aesthetically well-deserved, it might be best to think of Shrine Maiden’s work as something beyond these limiting terms. Damisch’s cloud theory was, after all, actually about visual experiences and not musical ones. And so Shrine Maiden’s work represents not only the crossing of genre lines and representations of love and anxiety interwoven, but also interpretations of aesthetic theories about one sense in the service of another.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Whited Sepulchre","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":53319722991947,"sku":"R1905-9895","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/unnamed-2025-09-05T101145.021.jpg?v=1757063511"},{"product_id":"remain","title":"Remain","description":"\u003cp\u003eAcclaimed vocalist and 2025 Guggenheim Fellow Holland Andrews joins long-time collaborators Methods Body (John Niekrasz and Luke Wyland) in creating \u003cem\u003eRemain\u003c\/em\u003e, a powerful suite of new music that cuts to the heart of our time. On these 10 tracks, the trio conjure an array of transportive sonic-emotional realms by refracting Holland Andrew's singular vocal gestures through live processing, percussion, and keys. A living development of the trio’s sold-out 2024 performance at NYC's Issue Project Room, \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eRemain\u003c\/em\u003e is the sound of the tangled effects civilization has bred into all of us. Andrews, Wyland, and Niekrasz have been collaborating for more than a dozen years and the sanctity of their friendship and musical bond is palpable on this record. The trio demonstrates that improvisation at the highest level is a radical act of love and trust. \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eRemain\u003c\/em\u003e progresses through a series of otherworldly ballads, sleight-of-hand grooves, ecstatic keenings, and roiling drones. The track Stories of My Mother features the bass and synth wizardry of prolific sideman Shahzad Ismaily. \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eRemain\u003c\/em\u003e serves as a complex musical study of connection, grief, catharsis, and joy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Whited Sepulchre","offers":[{"title":"LP - Black","offer_id":57053492642123,"sku":"R1301-2787","price":22.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/unnamed-2026-04-17T101620.968.jpg?v=1776417390"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/collections\/whited-sepulchre.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}