{"title":"Kkht Arkh","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"pale-swordsman","title":"Pale Swordsman","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eKëkht Aräkh\u003c\/strong\u003e is the Ukrainian project founded in 2018 by Dmitry Marchenko. Originally released on the Finnish label Livor Mortis in 2021, \u003cem\u003ePale Swordsman\u003c\/em\u003e goes to even greater extents in building a bold and atmospheric sonic palette, and it’s now seeing a worldwide reissue via Brooklyn label Sacred Bones.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFor the sound design of the album, Dmitry was inspired by \u003cem\u003eThe Stooges’ Raw Power\u003c\/em\u003e to deliver a more soft sounding album, decisively less \"metal\". Traditional black metal song structures still persist in songs like \"\u003cem\u003eNight Descends\u003c\/em\u003e\" and \"\u003cem\u003eIn The Garden\u003c\/em\u003e\". However, their rawness and fast tempos is quickly cut through by dark ambient passages in \"\u003cem\u003eAmor\u003c\/em\u003e\" and \"\u003cem\u003eIntro\u003c\/em\u003e\" and softly played desolate ballads like \"\u003cem\u003eNocturne\u003c\/em\u003e\" and \"\u003cem\u003eLily\u003c\/em\u003e\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe crown jewel is the album closer \"\u003cem\u003eSwordsman\u003c\/em\u003e\", a track that displays a superb gothic sensibility, a poem recited over a deeply melancholic piano melody. \"The Christian concept of a person ridding themselves of evil to find inner peace or to be able to leave this world safely has become the core inspiration for the song.\" Dmitry explains \"However, this is not the only reading possible. I purposely avoid specifics in my lyrics so that the listener can always give the song their own meaning.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe inspiration for the concept of the album also came from David Bowie’s \u003cem\u003eThe Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars\u003c\/em\u003e. \"I really enjoy it when an album tells a story about some character so I came up with one.\" says Dmitry when explaining the origin of the \u003cem\u003ePale Swordsman\u003c\/em\u003e. The character is portrayed on the striking album cover art - a figure sitting aloof with a sword and a rose in each hand – and clearly symbolises the romantic juxtaposition of belligerence and fragile beauty that permeates the album’s sound and atmosphere.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003ePale Swordsman\u003c\/em\u003e delivers a foreboding yet bittersweet melancholy through poetic lyrics, soft interludes, raw and distorted guitars, eerie drums and harsh vocals - a fragile yet potent mix that successfully amplifies the ambience.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sacred Bones Records","offers":[{"title":"Silver | LP","offer_id":50386134827339,"sku":"1159674","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black | LP","offer_id":50386135023947,"sku":"1159673","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50386134925643,"sku":"1159672","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/3d4d6b84-11c0-46b6-9840-127092d807b1_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726321210"},{"product_id":"night-and-love","title":"Night and Love","description":"\u003cp\u003eKëkht Aräkh is the Ukrainian project founded in 2018 by Dmitry Marchenko. The debut album \u003ci\u003eNight and Love\u003c\/i\u003e was initially released on the Finnish label Livor Mortis in 2019 and it’s now seeing a worldwide reissue via Brooklyn label Sacred Bones.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eDmitry’s intent to experiment with standard black metal canons previously seen at play in Through the Branches to Eternity EP (2018) solidify further on \u003ci\u003eNight and Love\u003c\/i\u003e, he mentions “back then I had an idea of combining Darkthrone’s Transilvanian Hunger type of black metal with early Internazionale or Croatian Amor vibe.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eDescribed 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 “As the Night Falls…” before descending into the raw and raucous “Elegy for the Memory of Me” and “Den Venstre Hånd På Den Høyre”, 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 “Night” and “Love” that really set this album apart. “Night” 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. “Love” is a spellbinding and melancholic song, equal in its romanticism but one that displays a deeper sorrow and tenderness supported by calming field recordings of trickling water.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe intertwining of black metal, dark folk and ambient repeats itself, culminating in a quietly hummed outro “...And Never Ends (Eternal Love)” that alludes to and completes the album’s first track.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Sacred Bones Records","offers":[{"title":"Silver | LP","offer_id":50428892807499,"sku":"1159677","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"Black LP","offer_id":50428891267403,"sku":"1159676","price":24.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"CD","offer_id":50428887728459,"sku":"1159675","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5d775dcc-6895-4502-903a-e17b9bf787d6_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1726836173"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/de\/collections\/kkht-arkh.oembed","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}