Këkht Aräkh will release Morning Star on March 27th, and the album finds him arriving at a truer, more refined version of himself. Recorded between Berlin and Stockholm, the album emerges from a period of intense personal and artistic growth, blending aggressive black metal passages with textured, immersive soundscapes that feel both intimate and vast. The lo-fi warmth of the tape Portastudio imbues the record with a tangible, analog immediacy, lending grit and character to every note while allowing drifting, melancholic melodies to linger.
Since its origins in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, Dmitry (a.k.a. Crying Orc), the sole mastermind behind the Këkht Aräkh project, has consistently sought to carve a distinctive path within black metal. Tracing back to 2014, his early experiments exposed the gaps he felt in the genre, culminating with his debut under the Këkht Aräkh moniker, Through the Branches to Eternity EP (2018), Night & Love (2018) and Pale Swordsman (2021), later reissued by Sacred Bones Records. Across these releases, Dmitry, now based in Berlin, established a signature contrast between ferocious, visceral black metal and delicate, introspective ballads: a dynamic that reaches new depth on Morning Star.
On the new single ‘Eternal martyr’, Këkht Aräkh partners with Bladee, who added vocals and co-wrote lyrics. The collaboration may seem unlikely at first, yet it reveals an intuitive chemistry. Both artists share a commitment to world-building, emotional directness and carving a singular path outside their respective genres. Despite their different genres, Dmitry has long admired Bladee’s introspective lyrical style and saw how it could translate into black metal without disrupting the genre. Bladee’s own interest in black metal created a natural space for collaboration, and the project grew organically from their shared fascination with bridging their musical worlds.
About the track, Dmitry says, “Despite its simplicity, this song feels like an interesting musical and cultural experiment, a fusion of two worlds, or a bridge between them. On this track, and the record as a whole, I’m hoping to offer a new perspective for black metal: renewed, reframed for the present moment, more integrated in the modern music scene, but strongly faithful to the genre’s roots.
“I’m very grateful to Bladee for exploring this idea with me, bringing his unique vibe and making this beautiful collab happen, that makes perfect sense in the end.”
AA
Photo credit: Duran Levinson
Aural Aggravation 