{"title":"Sacred Bones Records @sw@if@label-48362@","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"kekht-arakh-pale-swordsman-cd-digipak","title":"Këkht Aräkh - Pale Swordsman - CD DIGIPAK","description":"\u003cp\u003eKëkht Aräkh is the Ukrainian project founded in 2018 by Dmitry Marchenko. The sophomore album Pale Swordsman follows yet expands on what Dmitry was already experimenting with in the debut Night \u0026amp; Love. 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWork on the record started in spring of 2020. “I decided to give my absolute everything to the next album” said Dmitry reflecting on this period “and for the sake of better concentration, I tried to isolate myself for a couple of weeks at our family’s country house outside of the city. There I came up with half of the songs for the album (Thorns, Night Descends, In the Garden, Amid the Stars, Crystal).”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFor 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”.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 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.”\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eOn this album we follow the character’s journey through haunting despair, longing and resignation. The imagery is decisively romantic, almost vampiric with recurring themes of spectral symbolism, darkness, night creatures, blood hunger, the close connection of death and life. “the fresh air of inspiration was blown into my mind in the shape of Bladee’s verses” says Dmitry when discussing the writing of the lyrics.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePale 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Season of Mist - International","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53419587436887,"sku":"P-177470-","price":15.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/6500\/8471\/files\/Kekht-Arakh-Pale-Swordsman-CD-DIGIPAK-177470-1-1774600362_8c1cbfce-aa4a-4bd5-85dd-2def1b00b62f.jpg?v=1778325721"},{"product_id":"molchat-doma-etazhi-cd","title":"Molchat Doma - Etazhi - CD","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe second LP by Belarusian trio Molchat Doma, (pronounced Etazhi, meaning “Floors”), was first released in 2018 on Berlin-based Detriti Records. It became a viral hit, garnering over one million views on YouTube and becoming a legitimate phenomenon on Bandcamp. The band may fly under the radar in their native Belarus, but they’ve reached huge audiences across Europe and beyond.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMolchat Doma (translated as “Houses Are Silent”), founded in 2017 in Minsk, Belarus, stands at the intersection of post-punk, new-wave and synth-pop. Dark yet danceable, and with a heavy dose of goth ethos, their music is reminiscent of the masters that predate them, but make no mistake: Molchat Doma creates a sound and meaning that is immediately recognizable as all their own.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe band is comprised of Egor Shkutko, who sings the Russian lyrics in his deep monotone, Roman Komogortsev on guitar, synths, and drum machine, and Pavel Kozlov on bass and synths.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Season of Mist - International","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53460634042711,"sku":"P-177471-","price":15.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/6500\/8471\/files\/Molchat-Doma-Etazhi-CD-177471-1-1774600923.jpg?v=1778325728"},{"product_id":"molchat-doma-belaya-polosa-cd","title":"Molchat Doma - Belaya Polosa - CD","description":"\u003cp\u003eBelarusian post-punk \/ synth pop group Molchat Doma have always exuded the kind of brutalist aesthetic of the architecture that adorns their album art. It’s cold, gray, imposing, industrial—and yet there are human hearts beating within those foundations. In the wake of their breakthrough success in 2020, the trio endured a polarity of experiences, from the nadir of an uprooted life and forced relocation away from their native Minsk to the apex of headlining massive shows across the world. It was in this headspace that the band settled into their new home of Los Angeles to finish writing their fourth album Belaya Polosa, a testament to change in difficult times, a love letter to the digital pulse of the ‘90s, and a technicolor reinvention of the band’s somber dance floor anthems.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eFrom the opening synth swell and drum machine throb of “Ty Zhe Ne Znaesh’ Kto Ya,” to the goth \/ post-punk austerity of “Son”, to the swirling electronic textures mixed with reverb-drenched guitar flourishes, expansive space, and yearning vocals of title track “Belaya Polosa”- that suggests Depeche Mode at their most reflective or The Cure at their most downtrodden - to the sultry and seductive “Chernye Cvety”— a track reminiscent of Duran Duran’s early ‘90s output in its fusion of dreamy guitars and authoritative mechanized beats — and the interwoven layers of instrumentation, soaring chorus, and melodic sophistication of “Ya Tak Ustal”, it’s clear that Molchat Doma are operating on another level. Molchat Doma gained following with earlier albums that sound like third-generation boot-legs of banned recordings from the Eastern Bloc made after a few key entries in the Factory Records catalog were smuggled in from the West. Belaya Polosa propels them into a new direction while retaining their cold minimalist delivery they’re known for. The basement grime and dirty tape-head sound of their previous work are now making space for digital luster and shimmering production values.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd while Molchat Doma’s broadened aural spectrum adds a synesthetic power to Belaya Polosa, the mood remains rooted in stark and unflinching self-reflection. Molchat Doma retain the duality of being both cold and feverish in their delivery while pushing their music into expanded territories through an armory of new textures. The trio continue to harness the sound of harrowing beauty thriving under harsh realities.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Season of Mist - International","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53460634272087,"sku":"P-177474-","price":15.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/6500\/8471\/files\/Molchat-Doma-Belaya-Polosa-CD-177474-1-1774601657.jpg?v=1778325750"},{"product_id":"molchat-doma-s-krysh-nashikh-domov-lp-coloured","title":"Molchat Doma - S Krysh Nashikh Domov - LP COLOURED","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen S Krysh Nashikh Domov, the debut album by Molchat Doma, was released in 2017, it announced a bold new voice in underground music. The album found a passionate audience on Bandcamp and other streaming services and was released on CD and cassette.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eMolchat Doma (translated as “Houses Are Silent”), founded in 2017 in Minsk, Belarus, stands at the intersection of post-punk, new-wave and synth-pop. 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