Newport News, Virginia, USA. (1999-2004)

Necare was a Death/Doom met… Read Full Bio ↴Newport News, Virginia, USA. (1999-2004)

Necare was a Death/Doom metal band in the vein of old Anathema, Saturnus and My Dying Bride but were also influenced by bands like Katatonia and Evoken. Truly mournful and bleak music for the romantic doom fan. Sporadic use of a violin and other atmospheric elements. They use both grunts and clean vocals.
They consisted of two members, Jonathan Greer Cawthon and Ryan Henry of Reclusiam .

Rite of Shrouds
Necare Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Consecrate the ceremony
Or bear the oblation
See you this maiden whore
With whom you wish to copulate

You see her beauty
I see the skull beneath the skin
I smell the fragrant dusk of graves

And the yellowed linen

"Calamity of fate!"
The portents cry
She longs to join the earth

Until all is but an elysian field
A desolate, echoing cinerarium
Rattled by the winter winds

Merciless, I raise the cup
And I beseech it be filled
I am the celebrant
In this rite of shrouds

We abscond to ashes
And dust occludes us all
We abscond to ashes
And dust occludes us all
We abscond to ashes
And dust occludes us all
And dust occludes us all

And dust occludes us all
And dust occludes us all

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Necare's song Rite of Shrouds suggest a ritual in which an unnamed celebrant conducts a burial rite for a woman whom he refers to as a "maiden whore." The first stanza advises the importance of consecrating the ceremony and offering an oblation, which could suggest that this burial rite is a solemn and significant event. The second stanza seems to recount the celebrant's awareness of the maiden whore's beauty, but also reminds us that death is inherent and present within all of us. The celebrant seems to possess a particular awareness of death, recalling the "fragrant dusk of graves and yellowed linen."

The chorus, "We abscond to ashes, and dust occludes us all," echoes the idea of death's finality and the physicality of human decay. The final lines, "And dust occludes us all," are especially poignant, as they suggest that in the end, our earthly bodies will be reduced to nothing more than particles of dust. It is a reminder of the inevitability of death and the impermanence of all things.

Line by Line Meaning

Consecrate the ceremony
Begin the sacred ritual

Or bear the oblation
Otherwise, bring the sacrifice

See you this maiden whore
Do you see this woman willing to engage in sexual activity?

With whom you wish to copulate
With whom you desire to have sex

You see her beauty
You see her attractiveness

I see the skull beneath the skin
I see beyond her physical appearance to the reality of death that lies beneath

I smell the fragrant dusk of graves
I sense the scent of decaying bodies

And the yellowed linen
And the aged burial clothing

"Calamity of fate!"
A forewarning of impending disaster

The portents cry
The omens are warning

She longs to join the earth
She desires to return to the earth in death