It's time to talk about the latter of the twin singles, Blessed Be. Dropping three months after Rule Of Nines, Spiritbox brought a more melodic and slightly brighter sound to their catalogue, with a sonic texture significantly different from its sister.
Blessed Be is very noticably more lead-focused, with Mike's signature style of fast looping arpeggio leads present in most of the song. The majority of the song also channels the same ethereal vibe as its sister, making generous use of reverb and delay effects, slightly choral vocal production and a very prominent spaciousness to the whole thing. Between that and Courtney's angelic clean vocals, the whole front half of the song is nothing short of heavenly.
I have to commend the riffage in this one. The guitarwork in Rule Of Nines might have been tastefully groovy, but the riffs underneath the lead lines in the verses and choruses are so subtly impressive. The way it guides the chord progressions, yet contributing so much to the rhythm and dynamic without overpowering any of the other elements, is so cool.
Nearing the three-quarter mark, the whole song takes a sudden dark turn, guided in by a glitchy and slightly dissonant vocal chant. The moment the breakdown starts, it hits hard and with no restraint. With a riff so low-tuned and nasty alongside Courtney's angry lows, the whole section is just a stankface generator. I'm very glad that the breakdown is slightly longer this time, with the second half going for a more dynamic and spaced out rhythm, giving the whole moment much more intensity. Not to mention, the lyrics are intense too, with the opening up of the sternum and all.
The final chorus is nothing too special, just bringing back the melodic side of their sound to end the song nicely. I do sometimes wish they modified it a bit, maybe in a way similar to how the final chorus of Circle With Me was slightly more intense, but I'll take what I got.
Blessed Be and Rule Of Nines together showcase the major parts of their new sound, and it's hard for me to think of one without thinking of the other. I'd like to think they're on par with each other, albeit showing different sides of their sound, but if it comes down to it, Blessed Be beats Rule Of Nines by a hair.
Rating: 4/5