ALBUM REVIEW: Night & Love (reissue)/Pale Swordsman (reissue) – Këkht Aräkh

Ukranian artist KËKHT ARÄKH aka Dmitry Marchenko specialises in melancholic and atmospheric black metal and his recent signing with Sacred Bones has resulted in his albums being reissued by the label. Those albums are 2019’s Night & Love and last year’s follow up Pale Swordsman and they demonstrate exactly what KËKHT ARÄKH is bringing to black metal, which is a pure rawness mixed with a hauntingly beautiful edge resulting in two albums full of both brutality and grandeur.

Night & Love is the rawer of the two albums, with an almost lo-fi approach to proceedings with tracks like Her Body Strewn With Petals Black, Down To The Depths Of Inner Cold and Through Light Which Knows No Dawn containing a brilliantly raw edge to the frostbitten black metal coldness. It shows exactly why KËKHT ARÄKH is a shining light when it comes to the genre today.

The brilliance of the album is the contrast between the more intense material and the hauntingly melancholic and at times gentler aspects of the music of KËKHT ARÄKH which demonstrates a sublime balance of both dark and light. Tracks like the opening salvo of the perfectly titled As The Night Falls, the macabre beauty of both Night and Love, the folkiness of Mysteriet Med Svartfiolett and the truly sublime hazy atmosphere of Forever Night Castle Of Love add so much depth that when all elements are combined, it plays out like an epic and romantic journey with elements of danger and evil in there as well.

Pale Swordsman follows a similar sonic path but ups the ante by sounding even grander on this record. The black metal rawness remains but even that is given a bigger sound especially on songs like Thorns, In The Garden and Amid The Stars. However, like the debut album the eclectic mix of different and more mellow sounds is what elevates the music of KËKHT ARÄKH.

Amor is a beautiful piece of music that is quite hypnotic to listen to and will keep you transfixed throughout, while the track that follows it, Nocturne, is a simple but effective interlude, as is the forlorn but still gorgeous Lily. Pale Swordsman concludes with Swordsman, a track that sonically and emotionally has more in common with a track like Avril 14th by APHEX TWIN than any black metal track and sounds as achingly beautiful as that song and ends things on a sombre but life affirming note, something that the music of KËKHT ARÄKH does stunningly.

With these two records, KËKHT ARÄKH has not only made waves within black metal but has also shown enough depth and vision to transcend even deeper into different realms of extreme music and beyond. Going from raw brutality to grand beauty and romanticism without missing a beat and making it sound faultless, the rise of KËKHT ARÄKH is imminent and forthcoming new music on Sacred Bones is something to be anticipated. Until then, immerse yourself in the sheer brilliance of Night & Love and Pale Swordsman.

Rating: 8/10

Night & Love (reissue) and Pale Swordsman (reissue) are set for release on December 2nd via Sacred Bones.

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