{"product_id":"kekht-arakh_pale-swordsman_2022","title":"Pale Swordsman","description":"Këkht Aräkh is the Ukrainian project founded in 2018 by Dmitry Marchenko. Originally released on the Finnish label Livor Mortis in 2021 and reissued via the Brooklyn label Sacred Bones, Pale Swordsman is Këkht Aräkh's second album. It goes further in building a bold and atmospheric sound palette. For the album's sound design, Dmitry drew inspiration from Raw Power by the Stooges to deliver a softer-sounding album, decidedly less \"metal.\" Traditional black metal structures persist in songs like \"Night Descends\" and \"In The Garden.\" However, their brutality and fast tempos are quickly interrupted by dark ambient passages in \"Amor\" and \"Intro\" and desolate ballads played softly like \"Nocturne\" and \"Lily.\" The crown jewel is the track \"Swordsman,\" which closes the album and showcases a superb gothic sensibility, a recited poem over a deeply melancholic piano melody. The inspiration for the album's concept also came from The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars by David Bowie. The idea that an album tells the story of a character greatly appeals to Dmitry. The character is depicted on the album cover - a seated, distant figure holding a sword and a rose in each hand - and clearly symbolizes the romantic juxtaposition of belligerence and fragile beauty that permeates the sound and atmosphere of the album. Pale Swordsman delivers a haunting yet bittersweet melancholy through poetic lyrics, gentle interludes, raw and distorted guitars, unsettling drums, and brutal vocals - a fragile yet powerful mix that successfully amplifies the mood.","brand":"Këkht Aräkh","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":58426426720600,"sku":null,"price":23972091.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0898\/4943\/0360\/files\/0843563155271.jpg?v=1788906684","url":"https:\/\/vinyles.com\/en-us\/products\/kekht-arakh_pale-swordsman_2022","provider":"Vinyles.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}