Five years since Pale Swordsman, black metal entity Këkht Aräkh returns “rawer” and “more honest” on new single Three winters away.
Lo-fi black metal enigma Këkht Aräkh has announced that his third album, Morning Star, will be released on March 27.
The follow-up to the Ukraine-born artist's acclaimed 2021 LP Pale Swordsman, Morning Star finds mainman Crying Orc in a creatively more confident and clear-visioned place.
“This album was created at a point where I’m more skilful as an artist, with a much clearer sense of my own sound than in my earlier work," he explains. "It explores a different emotional palette – rawer, more honest and more personal. On this record, I feel more like myself than ever before."
Check out the first cut, Three winters away, below.
Digging into the song, he explains that it all began in 2024 while starting work on the album, which was eventually laid down into a tape recording device.
"The song’s lyrics show me reflecting on changes in my life since 2021, when my previous album Pale Swordsman was released, as well as reflecting on the passage of time and the changes it brings," he says. "That said, the meaning still stays very much open. 'Three winters away from my old life I look back and I smile,' one line says. It doesn’t reveal whether those changes were for better or for worse. The following lyrics suggest doubt, leaving space for listeners to interpret the story in their own way."
Check out the album tracklist:
1. Wänderer
2. Castle
3. Lament
4. Genom sorgen (feat. VS--55)
5. Angest
6. Mörker över mörker
7. Three winters away
8. Drömsång
9. Raven king
10. Vigil
11. Eternal martyr (feat. Bladee)
12. Trollsång (feat. Spöke)
13. Land av evig natt l
14. Land av evig natt ll
15. Gates
16. Morning star
17. Outro (feat. Varg2™)
