Këkht Aräkh - Pale Swordsman - VINYL LP

Këkht Aräkh is the Ukrainian project founded in 2018 by Dmitry Marchenko.Originally released on the Finnish tag Livor Mortis in 2021, Pale Swordsman goesto even greater extents in building a bold and atmospheric sonic palette, and it's nowseeing a worldwide reissue via Brooklyn tag Sacred Bones.For the sound design of the album, Dmitry was inspired by The Stooges' Raw Power todeliver a more soft sounding album, decisively less InchmetalInch. Traditional black metal songstructures still persist in songs like InchNight DescendsInch and InchIn The GardenInch. However,their rawness and fast tempos is quickly cut through by dark ambient passages inInchAmorInch and InchIntroInch and softly played desolate ballads like InchNocturneInch and InchLilyInch.The crown jewel is the album closer InchSwordsmanInch, a track that displays a superb gothicsensibility, a poem recited over a deeply melancholic piano melody. InchThe Christianconcept of a person ridding themselves of evil to find inner peace or to be able toleave this world safely has become the core inspiration for the song.Inch Dmitry explainsInchHowever, this is not the only reading possible. I purposely avoid specifics in my lyricsso that the listener can always give the song their own meaning.InchThe inspiration for the concept of the album also came from David Bowie's TheRise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. InchI really enjoy it when analbum tells a story about some character so I came up with one.Inch says Dmitry whenexplaining the origin of the Pale Swordsman. The character is portrayed on the strikingalbum cover art - a figure sitting aloof with a sword and a rose in each hand - andclearly symbolises the romantic juxtaposition of belligerence and fragile beauty thatpermeates the album's sound and atmosphere.Pale Swordsman delivers a foreboding yet bittersweet melancholy through poetic lyrics,so

Këkht Aräkh is the Ukrainian project founded in 2018 by Dmitry Marchenko. The debut album Night & Love was initially released on the Finnish tag Livor Mortis in 2019 and it's now seeing a worldwide reissue via Brooklyn tag Sacred Bones. Dmitry's intent to experiment with standard black metal canons previously seen at play in Through the Branches to Eternity EP (2018) solidify further on Night & Love, he mentions Inchback then I had an idea of combining Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger type of black metal with early Internazionale or Croatian Amor vibe.Inch Described as ambient or atmospheric black metal, this debut presents Këkht Aräkh's signature dichotomy of harsh traditional early Norwegian black metal and the more ethereal and delicate melodies. On the other hand the lyrics are romantic and melancholic, clearly influenced by a stark Gothic imagery, and serve as an extra layer of mystery to the already suggestive body of work. The album beings with a soft acoustic intro in InchAs the Night Falls... Inch before descending into the raw and raucous InchElegy for the Memory of MeInch and InchDen Venstre Hånd På Den HøyreInch, both songs that are drenched in the more traditional black metal style of raspy, high-pitched vocals, dense, tremolo- picked riffs and fast paced drums. It is however songs like InchNightInch and InchLoveInch that really set this album apart. InchNightInch is a softly spoken word ambient track that with a beautiful piano synth work that permeates throughout it aids in the romantic delivery and conjuring of imagery of the night. InchLoveInch is a spellbinding and melancholic song, equal in it's romanticism but one that displays a deeper sorrow and tenderness supported by calming field recordings of trickling water. The intertwining of black metal, dark folk and ambient repeats itself, culminating in a quietly hummed outro Inch... And Never Ends (E

Morning Star finds Këkht Aräkh arriving at a truer, more refined version of himself. Recorded between Berlin and Stockholm, the album emerges from a period of intense personal and artistic growth, blending aggressive black metal passages with immersive, textured soundscapes that feel both intimate and vast. Since his origins in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Dmitry (a.k.a. Crying Orc), the sole mastermind behind the project, has sought a distinctive path within black metal. This vision unfolded through his debut Through the Branches to Eternity EP (2018) and the albums Night & Love (2018) and Pale Swordsman (2021), establishing a signature tension between ferocious, visceral black metal and delicate, introspective ballads. On Morning Star, this dynamic reaches new depth. Created at a point of artistic clarity, the album explores a rawer, more personal emotional palette, shaped by stress, anxiety, and long stretches of writer's block, giving it rare immediacy and vulnerability. Dmitry recorded nearly all instruments himself, with drums by Jonathan (Spira Me, Vanskapth, Olycka). Bladee contributed vocals and co-wrote lyrics on InchEternal Martyr,Inch an unexpected collaboration that reveals intuitive chemistry. VS-55 and Varg2™ add abstract sampling and subtle textural design, giving Morning Star it's distinctive grain and analog warmth, while James Ginzburg (Emptyset, Osmium) handled final mastering, enhancing dynamic depth and atmospheric richness. Several tracks revisit earlier material with fresh perspectives. InchWändererInch and InchDrömsångInch are partially rerecorded or fully reimagined. Intense, driving passages collide with sparse, contemplative interludes, producing a landscape both visceral and haunting. Themes of isolation and wandering surface in InchWänderer,Inch dreamlike melancholy in InchDrömsång,Inch existential struggle in InchAngest,Inch and reflections on tim