Italian doomweavers MESSA have always been reliable, but with the move to Svart Records and release of Close in 2022, they became memorable. A Live At Roadburn followed, and now arrives The Spin, marked by yet another label switch, this time under the Metal Blade imprint. I’ll confess to a bit of trepidation when I see three releases from a band in a row, all on different labels, but MESSA has been around for just over a decade, and this is its fourth LP, so the members have clearly put in the work, and may be simply seeking to be paid what they’re worth, or a better distribution pipeline, whatever. Let’s spin the black circle…
An electro-throbbing heartbeat begins ‘Void Meridian’, soon quickening and joined by the echoed vocals of Sara and strings, taking it’s sweet and precious time. But listening to a MESSA album is not to be done while otherwise focused, so we are here and enwreathed as we’re moved from softness into a hectic solo to lead us into ‘At Races’. Strident, ‘At Races’ is forward motion in audio form despite the grim subject matter, the blood-drenched run through a life forever biting at your heels in ways of which Death can only dream.
Heralding a more aggressive MESSA than we’ve heard in a while, ‘Fire On The Roof’ positively bursting, volcanic and spewing down the mountainside into the wrung-out “morning after the devastation” aftermath of ‘Immolation’. One of the areas where the quartet flourishes is in its tasteful use of keys to layer varied textures atop one another, akin to early DEPECHE MODE, MAGAZINE and late ‘70s WIRE. After the mellow space-jazz section of ‘The Dress’ [4:09-6:15] has been pummeled into dust by a cosmic storm of blistering proportions [6:42-6:56], the coda wrings us out like drenched fabric, and into the unexpected Delta blues stomp that is ‘Reveal’.
There are certain albums in life that share space in the same room of our minds, are paired well with one another. Myself, I’m eagerly looking forward to testing the evening listening session that contains THE TEA PARTY’s The Edges Of Twilight, Carved In Sand by THE MISSION, and MESSA’s The Spin.
A 41-minute album that feels entire days long, because you’re so deliriously lost in it.
Review By: Lord Randall
MESSA
The Spin
Metal Blade