There’s nary a misstep to be heard on Messa’s fourth record and first studio effort in three years, “The Spin”. And, in another step of maturity and confidence, the Italian quartet ditched their Pallbearer-esque slow, heavy, chunk guitar sound from their previous full-lengths. The results are illuminating, in at least a few ways. For one, Messa’s compositions shine more brightly than ever before thanks to Alberto Piccolo’s and Marco Zanin’s shift to a more shoegazey guitar sound. For another, the band flaunting its ability to crafty catchy, metal-pop probably wasn’t too high on anyone’s bingo card.
Eleven years into their career, they achieve exactly that on “At Races” and penultimate track “Reveal,” which is the strongest song “The Spin” has to offer. The record also gives vocalist/percussionist Sara Bianchin more opportunities to showcase her expertise in singing without a lick of irony or pretense. Add in some intriguing passages pockmarked with synthesizers and horns, and what you have here is a great, if not perfect, record.
Armed with chorus pedals, gated drums, and a mood board that simply read “The Eighties,” the Italian band Messa made their masterpiece. “The Spin” isn’t great because it successfully emulates familiar sounds but because it finds Messa making those sounds their own. There’s bouncy post-punk, smoldering power balladry, and noirish dark jazz here to augment the fundamentally doom metal core, but it’s all processed through the singular machine that is Messa — four generationally talented musicians whose symbiotic closeness you can hear in every note.
Released April 11th, 2025
The Fat Angel Sings 