{"product_id":"kekht-arakh-pale-swordsman-cd","title":"Këkht Aräkh - Pale Swordsman (CD)","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eDetails: \u003c\/strong\u003eKëkht Aräkh is the Ukrainian project founded in 2018 by Dmitry Marchenko.\r\nOriginally released on the Finnish label Livor Mortis in 2021, Pale Swordsman goes\r\nto even greater extents in building a bold and atmospheric sonic palette, and it's now\r\nseeing a worldwide reissue via Brooklyn label Sacred Bones.\r\nFor the sound design of the album, Dmitry was inspired by The Stooges' Raw Power to\r\ndeliver a more soft sounding album, decisively less \"metal\". Traditional black metal song\r\nstructures still persist in songs like \"Night Descends\" and \"In The Garden\". However,\r\ntheir rawness and fast tempos is quickly cut through by dark ambient passages in\r\n\"Amor\" and \"Intro\" and softly played desolate ballads like \"Nocturne\" and \"Lily\".\r\nThe crown jewel is the album closer \"Swordsman\", a track that displays a superb gothic\r\nsensibility, a poem recited over a deeply melancholic piano melody. \"The Christian\r\nconcept of a person ridding themselves of evil to find inner peace or to be able to\r\nleave this world safely has become the core inspiration for the song.\" Dmitry explains\r\n\"However, this is not the only reading possible. I purposely avoid specifics in my lyrics\r\nso that the listener can always give the song their own meaning.\"\r\nThe inspiration for the concept of the album also came from David Bowie's The\r\nRise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. \"I really enjoy it when an\r\nalbum tells a story about some character so I came up with one.\" says Dmitry when\r\nexplaining the origin of the Pale Swordsman. The character is portrayed on the striking\r\nalbum cover art - a figure sitting aloof with a sword and a rose in each hand - and\r\nclearly symbolises the romantic juxtaposition of belligerence and fragile beauty that\r\npermeates the album's sound and atmosphere.\r\nPale Swordsman delivers a foreboding yet bittersweet melancholy through poetic lyrics,\r\nsoft interludes, raw and distorted guitars, eerie drums and harsh vocals - a fragile yet\r\npotent mix that successfully amplifies the ambience.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eTracklist: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003col\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIntro\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Thorns\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Night Descends\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e In the Garden\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Amor\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Nocturne\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Amid the Stars\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Lily\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Crystal\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e Swordsman\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ol\u003e","brand":"Alliance Entertainment","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50400748798226,"sku":"843563155271","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/4137272-2885568.jpg?v=1729117125","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/kekht-arakh-pale-swordsman-cd","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}