New album from Mortal Prophets

New York City’s John Beckmann has long been an artist able to blur the boundaries of form and medium and with his project Mortal Prophets he’s turned that same instinct toward reshaping the landscape of American music. Since launching in 2022, the project has thrived where the past and present collide, reimagining traditional forms while stretching into avant-garde spheres. In John’s hands, heritage becomes a springboard for innovation, offering a sound that’s both reverent and radical.

At the heart of Mortal Prophets is collaboration; John has worked closely with musicians such as guitarist Parker Bryant and organist Beckett Laurent, forming a creative collective that’s built on experimentation. Their efforts have yielded music that sidesteps genre labels, appealing to listeners seeking both grounding and surprise.

The journey began in May 2022 with the release of debut single “Stomp The Devil,” a track that immediately signalled Mortal Prophets’ refusal to play it safe. What followed was a series of adventurous singles such as “New Breed” and “Sleeping In My Bed,” as well as concept-driven EPs like HANUSSEN The Enigmatic Clairvoyant: An Opera and Brian Eno In Heaven. Each release added a new facet to the group’s identity, underscoring John Beckmann’s visionary output.

That vision now finds its fullest expression in GUITARWORKS II, Mortal Prophets’ latest album. A cinematic, genre-breaking collection, the record strides beyond conventional guitar music to explore sound as atmosphere, ritual and meditation. While the project’s earlier work often fused blues and vocal-driven textures, this album is an entirely instrumental experience, stripped down yet intricately layered to present a journey that nods to the transcendentalist tradition of Emerson and Thoreau while also echoing the innovations of ambient pioneers.

John takes cues from the looping minimalism of Robert Fripp, the ambient noir stylings of Jon DeRosa and the spectral experiments of Brian Enom resulting in music that feels hypnotic and elemental. Vintage amps and analogue effects lend the recordings a hazy warmth, their imperfections baked into the sound like the weathering of stone. Each track takes its name from a pre-Columbian archaeological site, creating what John describes as a “sonic cartography” of forgotten sacred places.

“Chaco Canyon” starts off the album with softly chiming tones and immersive atmosphere, crafting a dreamy soundscape of delicate melodic flickers and misty aesthetic. “Cahokia Mounds” flows with intricate guitar notes and swelling textures while the quiet brushed percussion adds moments of mellow rhythmic sway.

Songs like “Bighorn Medicine Wheel” sink deeper into smokey zones where the twang of guitar tones float through a swirling fabric of atmosphere. “Mystery Hill” crafts a stripped back sound of bright guitar plucks and the sweep of subtly gritty tones to cast a dreamy and subtly playful piece while “Wupatki” pairs droning guitar tones with stuttered elements, offering an avant-garde outing unlike any other. Closing the album with “Angel Mounds,” the twang of country-inflected guitar layers and bright brass tones offers a melodic and memorable finale to this thematically groundbreaking concept record from Mortal Prophets.

Commenting on the release, John Beckmann shares, “GUITARWORKS II is about attunement. It’s music made in response to the absence of words, to the power of landscape, and to the mythic residue that lingers in forgotten places. Like Eno and Cluster’s work, it’s about the space between the notes as much as the notes themselves.”

Listen to GUITARWORKS II below