“A Theory of /Cloud/” by Shrine Maiden

If you looked at a promo photo of Ryan Betschart and Rachel Nakawatase, the husband-and-wife duo also known as Shrine Maiden, you’d see a lovely couple who are all warm smiles — and you probably wouldn’t suspect them of being responsible for some of the year’s heaviest music.

Blending together metal, industrial, drone, shoegaze, goth, and even traditional chants from Nakawatase’s Hawaiian heritage, A Theory of /Cloud/ makes for a punishing-yet-exhilarating 45 minutes. Nowhere is that better demonstrated than the title track, which bursts out of the gate with Nakawatase’s thunderous drumming. Meanwhile, Betschart’s guitar alternately hammers away at the listener and flares out like a dozen fluorescent bulbs.

But even in the midst of all that tumult, not to mention Betschart’s inhuman shrieks and howls, “A Theory of /Cloud/” is surprisingly… catchy? Sounds unlikely, I know, but it’s a paradox that makes the song all the more intriguing even as it threatens to reduce your eardrums to smoking rubble.

A Theory of /Cloud/ is currently available via Whited Sepulchre Records.