{"product_id":"kekht-arakh-pale-swordsman-cd","title":"Këkht Aräkh - Pale Swordsman [CD]","description":"\u003cdiv id=\"aec-product-description\" class=\"col-md-12 col-sm-12 col-12\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"aec-desc-review collapse\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eKëkht Aräkh is the Ukrainian project founded in 2018 by Dmitry Marchenko.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOriginally released on the Finnish label Livor Mortis in 2021, Pale Swordsman goes \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eto even greater extents in building a bold and atmospheric sonic palette, and it's now \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eseeing a worldwide reissue via Brooklyn label Sacred Bones. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFor the sound design of the album, Dmitry was inspired by The Stooges' Raw Power to \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003edeliver a more soft sounding album, decisively less \"metal\". Traditional black metal song \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003estructures still persist in songs like \"Night Descends\" and \"In The Garden\". However, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003etheir rawness and fast tempos is quickly cut through by dark ambient passages in \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"Amor\" and \"Intro\" and softly played desolate ballads like \"Nocturne\" and \"Lily\". \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe crown jewel is the album closer \"Swordsman\", a track that displays a superb gothic \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003esensibility, a poem recited over a deeply melancholic piano melody. \"The Christian \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003econcept of a person ridding themselves of evil to find inner peace or to be able to \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eleave this world safely has become the core inspiration for the song.\" Dmitry explains \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\"However, this is not the only reading possible. I purposely avoid specifics in my lyrics \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eso that the listener can always give the song their own meaning.\" \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe inspiration for the concept of the album also came from David Bowie's The \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eRise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. \"I really enjoy it when an \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ealbum tells a story about some character so I came up with one.\" says Dmitry when \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eexplaining the origin of the Pale Swordsman. The character is portrayed on the striking \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ealbum cover art - a figure sitting aloof with a sword and a rose in each hand - and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eclearly symbolises the romantic juxtaposition of belligerence and fragile beauty that \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003epermeates the album's sound and atmosphere. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePale Swordsman delivers a foreboding yet bittersweet melancholy through poetic lyrics, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003esoft interludes, raw and distorted guitars, eerie drums and harsh vocals - a fragile yet \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003epotent mix that successfully amplifies the ambience.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Spinster Records","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44554293575763,"sku":"843563155271","price":16.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0647\/6399\/files\/4137272-2885568.jpg?v=1777583505","url":"https:\/\/www.spinsterrecords.com\/products\/kekht-arakh-pale-swordsman-cd","provider":"Spinster Records","version":"1.0","type":"link"}