Matriphagy is a concept album which expands upon the storyline of the band's debut EP, No One Should Read This, which was released two years prior.

It focuses on a young man, Kungan, who lives alone with his elderly disabled mother, Tallah,[1] in an underground bunker which is decorated as to resemble a normal home.

[4] On top of these two characters, a third is introduced in Lobifu, an evil stuffed toy rabbit, featured on the album cover, whose mere existence is debatable.

[5] The album artwork features several scattered pages from No One Should Read This (Kungan's journal), with Lobifu hanging on a chain in front.

"[2] Writing for Sonic Perspectives, Samantha Buckman describes Portnoy's drumming on the album as "a unique balance of percussive daring and precision".