Këkht Aräkh Music > Vinyl Records Këkht Aräkh - Pale Swordsman - Metallic Silver (Colored Vinyl, Silver) 843563154397 SBON3040C3.1

Bwscd, INC.

Këkht Aräkh - Pale Swordsman - Metallic Silver (Colored Vinyl, Silver)

Sale price$24.99
Sold out
SKU: SBON3040C3.1

Artist: Këkht Aräkh

Album: Pale Swordsman - Metallic Silver

Këkht Aräkh is the Ukrainian project founded in 2018 by Dmitry Marchenko.

Originally released on the Finnish label Livor Mortis in 2021, Pale Swordsman 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.

For the sound design of the album, Dmitry was inspired by The Stooges' Raw Power to

deliver a more soft sounding album, decisively less "metal". Traditional black metal song

structures still persist in songs like "Night Descends" and "In The Garden". However,

their rawness and fast tempos is quickly cut through by dark ambient passages in

"Amor" and "Intro" and softly played desolate ballads like "Nocturne" and "Lily".

The crown jewel is the album closer "Swordsman", 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."

The inspiration for the concept of the album also came from David Bowie's The

Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars. "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 Pale Swordsman. 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.

Pale Swordsman 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.

UPC/ISBN: 843563154397

Release Date: 12/02/2022

Product Information

Due to the nature of collectible items and ever changing market demand, we are unable to cancel pre-orders on ratio variants and select other items (1 per store variants, exclusive covers, ect) for a refund.For preorders on regular open order comics (the majority of which are normally cover price), we can cancel preorders and refund with a store credit that can be used in our brick and mortar stores or at thirdeyecomics.com

If you have any shipping questions check out our Shipping FAQs here

You can contact us through our contact page! We will be happy to assist you.

Cover art for Comics on our website is provided to us at the time of solicit. While we do our best to keep these images up to date; some covers may be subject to change!

At Third Eye, we ship thousands of comics every week, and we know condition matters. Whether you're reading, collecting, or grading, we want you to feel confident when a Third Eye package arrives.

This policy outlines our standard for new release and shipped comics, and the industry-standard guidelines we follow.

OUR STANDARD

Books without a stated grade will be offered as Near Mint 9.4 or better. We do not guarantee 9.8 condition on any book unless specifically noted.

We use industry-standard grading guidelines from:

If you're new to comic grading, the resources above are a great place to start.

WHY WE DON'T GUARANTEE 9.8

Modern comic printing is an imperfect process. Books are printed in massive
runs, bound at high speed, and shipped in bulk to retailers. Even brand
new books off the truck will exhibit minor production characteristics,
and that's normal, and consistent with industry standards across every
retailer.

A 9.8 grade represents near-perfection, and the reality is that not every printed book qualifies for that grade no matter where you buy it from.

We can absolutely commit to NM 9.4 or better. We cannot commit to 9.8 on every book, because that's not how comics are made.

WHAT QUALIFIES AS NM 9.4

Per industry standards, a book may exhibit the following minor characteristics and still grade as Near Mint 9.4, as long as there's no accumulation of defects:

Bindery characteristics:

  • Minor to moderate corner tears
  • White edges along the spine (common on most modern printings)
  • Covers slightly offset from interior pages (common on cardstock covers)

Printing characteristics:

  • Slight color rub on back covers
  • Small paper wrinkles present from the paper roll prior to printing
  • Wavy paper texture from the printing process

Spine characteristics:

  • 2-3 small color-breaking spine ticks
  • Minor non-color-breaking spine dings

These are normal modern production characteristics, not damage from handling or shipping. They are present on books across the industry, regardless
of retailer.

OUR RETURN & EXCHANGE POLICY

We do not accept returns or exchanges on books that meet our NM 9.4 or better standard.

We will replace or refund:

  • Books damaged during shipping (clear shipping damage, not pre-existing print characteristics)
  • Books that fall below NM 9.4 standard (significant spine damage, major creasing, tears, etc.)
  • Wrong cover or wrong issue shipped

For premium variants (1:25, 1:50, 1:100, 1:250, 1:500 incentive covers, signed editions, exclusive variants), we apply enhanced QC during pull and packing. If a premium variant arrives outside our standard, contact us within 7 days of delivery and we will work with you on a replacement.

QUESTIONS?

If you have questions about a specific book or want to learn more about comic grading, our team is happy to help. Reach out to service@thirdeyecomics.com.

We appreciate your trust in Third Eye Comics, and we're committed to delivering books that meet the standards both you and we expect.