Arankai returns with Choke, a heavy and emotionally charged statement that signals the next chapter following his debut album A Portrait Of Red.
by Paul Cashmere
Rising US rocker Arankai has launched the next phase of his career with the release of Choke, a blistering track that deepens his commitment to emotionally driven alternative metal.
The song arrives as the first taste of material to follow his 2025 debut album A Portrait Of Red, a record that established Arankai as a formidable new presence in modern hard rock. With Choke, he sharpens that identity, delivering a track built on dense guitars, saturated distortion and an urgent vocal performance that pushes his songwriting into darker territory.
Arankai describes Choke as an exploration of imbalance, both personal and social. “Choke addresses the one-sided relationship, yearning for mutual love and respect,” he said. “In our world where there is division, disunity and conflict I think Choke reflects the current climate while also being a metaphor for personal relationships, which is a topic I cover frequently in my music.”
Musically, the track draws on the formative influences that shaped his early love of rock, including Switchfoot, Deftones, 10 Years, Sevendust and Korn. The result is a hybrid of garage-born immediacy and studio precision, where guitar lines strain against walls of distortion and rhythms feel deliberately overdriven. Arankai notes that the guitar leads “almost sound like they’re begging”, while the instrumentation carries a desperate intensity designed to match the lyrical themes.
That sonic direction sets the framework for what he describes as a new era, heavy, saturated and aggressive. It also signals continuity with the emotional directness that defined A Portrait Of Red, an album that introduced audiences to his blend of alternative metal and confessional storytelling.
Hailing from the Midwestern United States, Arankai first surfaced in 2022 with a run of independent releases that quickly gained traction online. His ability to translate vulnerability into hard-edged rock resonated with a digital-native audience, and through viral social media moments and high-impact live performances he has cultivated more than 2.5 million followers.
The momentum accelerated in 2025 when he signed with Hopeless Records, a label with a track record of developing alternative and heavy artists into global acts. That partnership paved the way for A Portrait Of Red, the first instalment in a planned three-album series. The record featured standout tracks including Contortionist, Conquer Feat. Josh Mowery Of Catch Your Breath, and the viral favourite Dead Throne, each reinforcing his capacity to fuse melody with muscular riffing.
Choke suggests the second chapter will lean even further into textural density and thematic confrontation. While the debut album mapped out a broad emotional landscape, the new material appears intent on tightening the focus, amplifying both the sonic weight and the lyrical intensity.
In an era where heavy music continues to evolve across streaming platforms and short-form video, Arankai’s trajectory reflects the shifting mechanics of artist development. His rise has been powered as much by direct-to-fan engagement as by traditional industry structures, yet the core remains rooted in songwriting and performance. By reconnecting with the bands that first inspired him and filtering those influences through his own contemporary lens, he is positioning himself for sustained growth in the alternative metal space.
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