Këkht Aräkh
Pale Swordsman LP vinyl

Këkht Aräkh’s Pale Swordsman takes the familiar vocabulary of early black metal and turns it into something unusually intimate. Released in 2021, the second album by Ukrainian musician Dmytro Marchenko is steeped in tape hiss, distorted guitars and primitive percussion, recalling the stark sound of the early ’90s while keeping its focus firmly on mood and melody.

What sets the record apart are the quieter spaces between the harsher passages. Piano-led interludes, acoustic textures and drifting ambient sections introduce a sense of melancholy that feels closer to a dark romantic soundtrack than straightforward black metal. The contrast gives the album a strong narrative quality, as if its ten tracks belong to the same cold, nocturnal world.

Raw, melodic and deeply melancholic, Pale Swordsman is a record where atmosphere matters as much as riffs. Its deliberately imperfect production only strengthens the feeling of distance and isolation, making it an especially evocative listen for anyone drawn to the more emotional and atmospheric side of black metal.

NEW /  Released in 2021 / Reissued 2022

Tracklist:

A1 Intro

A2 Thorns

A3 Night Descends

A4 In The Garden

A5 Amor

B1 Nocturne

B2 Amid The Stars

B3 Lily

B4 Crystal

B5 Swordsman