Possessed by increasingly stymying whorl of everyday life and wracked into outlet Bassano Del Grappa, Italy-based heavy rock/doom metal quartet MESSA reappear in a state of surrealistic introspection on this fourth full-length album, offering a purge of their darker “underground” extremes for the sake of an eclectic rock album. The product of minimizing songcraft down to its most stark resonance, ‘The Spin‘ was born from a couple of months spent clawing at the walls in an ancient house, a fourth bleeding-out of their “scarlet doom” bane in freshly reflective pathos. It is both a leap into something -else- wonderful and strange but also a heated retraction of the dark metal cacophony that’d shrouded earlier work in signature essence. The result finds the band at their most emotionally vibrant, an effective extraction of the self which benefits from a willingness to cut their house back down to its foundation and build anew.

Messa formed back in 2014 finding some thrill in the juxtaposition of extremes, eventually releasing a debut LP (‘Belfry‘, 2016) that’d inspired the modern doom metal headspace with heavily atmospheric and somewhat eclectic ideas interspersed (see: “Blood”) within occult rock and psychedelic doom metal. Over the next couple of releases they’d gained some additional notice for those eclectic moments as much as their divergence away from the loud-quiet-loud effect of post-metal production values and heavy rock earthiness. If you’re feeling a bit of déjà vu here you might recall I’d been thorough enough skating through the band’s discography in review of their third LP (‘Close‘, 2022) a few years ago. Everything has changed since then in terms of production values, performances, and general songcraft/song structure shifting from entirely maximal and eclectic indulgence toward minimal and intimately stated heavy blues/gothic rock.

Opener “Void Meridian” takes a moment developing its serious-faced strut, whirring its synth-powered motors into gear ’til the drive of the song has this GGOLDD meets late 80’s Trouble worthy progression (~2:58 minutes in) as its endpoint. A kinda-rocking start given ethereal hum before the salve of its torn-through lead later on redeems. The yank of the curtain aback is not subtle, this is a heavy rock record which finds the quartet flexing their emotional connection to the soul of heavy blues rock, (less so) doom and far more dour moodiness down the line. Though a cathartic piece cracks open the spine of ‘The Spin‘ that gloom won’t put off its post-punk/shoegaze drained bloom (“At Races”) too long, as we’re just as soon mulling within that same level of atmosphere… eventually reaching something Pallbearer-esque beyond the ~2:38 minute mark. Having spent too much time with the band’s discography circa 2022 and beyond, I’d suggest that “At Races” is the one single-worthy piece here which equals or matches the dreamed-loose intensity of Messa as I know them, a song with its own captivating sprawl to contrast with rocking opener’s pained step. I don’t know if I’d describe this sound as “occult” rock, post-whatever music or even psychedelic by design but a certain heady lilt paired with rousing leads here begins to forge a believably sombre, or at least reverent, thread right away.

Messa‘s changeling state is both period referential and agnostic in its treatment of heavy rock wherein modern “post-metal” strafe and a bluesy 90’s-looking-back ideation of 80’s gothic rock are both pressing in hand but not as much as the tuneful structure and sensation of classic rock (by any definition). Along these lines we find “Fire on the Roof” almost yacht rock coded and giving a light nod a Killing Joke at the same time with a steady synth-rocking piece which carries a humming wobble in assistance of its verse rhythms, ever-motioning toward the brief soar of each chorus. The possibilities of something akin to In Solitude‘s ‘Sister‘ are nonetheless distant at this point despite Messa sharing several of those same influences, be they Sisters of Mercy or Mercyful Fate. The ballad which follows (“Immolation”) doesn’t necessarily lean in either direction, an aching exorcism which peaks as it takes a strong hit off a slide guitar and rolls through. None of this is exactly unprecedented in terms of instrumentation beyond what the band’d achieved on ‘Close‘ only all is reduced to half-length and given to traditional heavy rock structures which do not dawdle nearly as long ’til abrupt transformation.

That exorcism was leading somewhere, though, as “The Dress” almost speaks to a ghost of the protagonist, a form or version of themselves that they don’t recognize making it perfectly suited for the Lynchian music video/performance beyond. This is a natural centerpiece, a certain peak within the record beyond “At Races” which shows some extra personage in its eight minute sink into high atmospheric tension, taking another pass or two within that same level of performative captivity. The vocal harmonies for “The Dress” are probably the highlight of the album per thier ‘Alice in Chains‘ worthy swoon, a level of resonance that we don’t find often enough on ‘The Spin‘ which towers over the rest when recalling highlights by memory.

We get a bit more slide guitar, some manner of acoustic wrangling to kick off “Reveal” and to entirely different effect as a grunge-era rock and doomed rhythm chops out of the song, catching some speed as it follows the haunt of “The Dress” with an entirely different sound and groove. At the very least this serves to rally some energy leading into the extended closer. Much as I focused on the spectacle of the lead single I’d eventually come to appreciate “Reveal” just as much thanks to its placement, elastic rhythm guitar tone and uptempo spastic movement. The closer in question (“Thicker Blood”) is arguably the most complete combination of the 80’s goth rock ideation in step with traditional/psychedelic doom metal which is ultimately the most “Messa” song here with consideration for their old gear. Where we end with the record is untethered, a point of release that calls for a spirited outburst via a shout and a growl at this quasi-blackened Eldritch endpoint on the album closer. Any decent rock record shows some sort of personality down to its last second and I’d say these folks’ve managed a well-rounded ride, broken the ice a bit more as ‘The Spin‘ closes.

Cover art by Nico Vascellari is unassuming at a glance and curious per a deeper stare, a metal ouroboros emerging from a section of a street motorcycle tire and slimmed of its treads by shadows. While I can’t say I understand the symbolism directly it does suit the classic gothic rock mindset a good deal of this album carries on with. Messa‘s selections for album art appear to be emotionally driven choices thus far, picked per a sense of place or movement that works with each release, yet this time around the symbolism (or the possibilities of) appears both contemplative and conflicted. This thought echoes in observation of ‘The Spin‘ as a whole to some degree wherein their overall gesture is extreme, an exorcism of their echoic “extreme underground” personage down to not-so earthy rock roots, yet the result is the least exaggerative the band’ve ever been. In the past we’d maybe found ~4-5 great ideas packed wall-to-wall into a ten minute song from the quartet but here they’ve found some greater profundity in chiseling down those ideas. With this in mind existing fandom might not find any sort of obviate follow-up to, or, continuation of ‘Close‘ here but rather a far more direct to the point version of their gig. For my own taste it is not only a perfect application of focus to their oft-meandering oeuvre but a surprisingly tuneful paradigm shift overall, a memorable experience at the end of the day. A high recommendation.

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