Conceptually, Sanshi sees the band dig into a morbid fixation on death and the afterlife in the context of traditional Chinese folklore. Tracks like  the lead single “Perverting the Funeral Rites,” is a song inspired by obscure funeral rites in Taiwan, wherein exotic dancers perform lithe rituals for living and dead alike. Elsewhere, “Force Fed” delves into the legend of Meng Po’s Elixir of Forgetfulness , which when drunk by the dead wipes their memories clean before they are reborn into their next incarnation. “Living In Effigy” was inspired by real life tales of photographers traversing remote rural China, taking funeral portraits of the elderly  who died in solitude.