"This short but heavily weighted passage of music revisits a journey we all have taken, it’s just a matter of taking a step back and taking stock of all that has gone before. There has been a low-lying cloud suspended over the world for these last two years, but finally shards of light are finally cutting through it"
Blessed Be Man has been writing music and sharing it with us all since 2012. His music reflects his frame of mind at any given time and gives the listener an opportunity to burrow deep into his thought process to see what provokes and evokes such heart-breaking and uplifting moments of post rock distortion and blackened percussions. This solo project from El Paso, Texas has been blessed with the gift of relaying emotions and feelings we all experience and suffer, through the power of music.
I have always enjoyed Blessed Be Man’s musical chronicles, that bring you from the depths of sorrow and despair to the lofty heights of utter euphoria and nirvana. 2019’s album Chapter III encapsulated all these emotions and cradled you through moments of deep melancholia, never letting go, until you reached that crescendo led moment of elation and rapture. Now, with his latest work of art getting a release on 04-01-2022, everyone can once again bask in the emotional rollercoaster that Blessed Be Man has constructed.
MMXXII is a 10-minute journey that is broken down into five stages. Fear – Pain – Despair – Faith – Hope. This EP may be short but every stage and emotion it depicts has been felt by us all over these past two years. Nobody has escaped these stages unfortunately, and many of us don’t even realise we have lived through them, but life is a journey into the unknown at times. This musical pilgrimage, however, begins with Fear, and it opens in a synthesised veil that completely shrouds the listener, giving way to uncertainty and doubt. As The strings wail above the blanket of suspense, the tension and emotions that are felt, run high and consume. What follows this is that feeling of Pain that aches and eats at your soul, and this is expressed through a distorted guitar sequence that loops and comes at you in waves, relentless and incessant.
Despair falls under the spell of a Mexican guitar and contorted narratives that fill your head with a sense of hopelessness and the feeling that you’re consumed by the voices of doubt, all the time beneath the rumbling of industrial noises. When Faith enters, it's almost like rounding a corner, or reaching the top of that mountain after a torturous ascent, its that first glimpse of something positive and reassuring. Faith is something we all share and have within us all, but its just a matter of finding it and seeking solace in whatever form it takes, and with Blessed Be Man this is shown as a calming and thought-provoking violin that haunts and serenades over clean percussions and restful guitars. Hope finally enters the body and for once there’s light at the end of the tunnel, as an earthly weight has been lifted off your shoulders. More shredded and distorted guitars play a more positive tune, as all the instruments join together in one grand finale, leaving the listener in a more upbeat and hopeful place, mentally.
This short but heavily weighted passage of music revisits a journey we all have taken, it’s just a matter of taking a step back and taking stock of all that has gone before. There has been a low-lying cloud suspended over the world for these last two years, but finally shards of light are finally cutting through it. Blessed Be Man’s mini-EP MMXXII could be the soundtrack to this, a summary of each and everyone’s journey, and a way of accepting the past and looking forward to the future.