Review: Messa ‘The Spin’
News fresh in from the interwebs: Messa have SOLD OUT with their new album The Spin on Metal Blade Records, completely changing their sound in order to chase Trump’s mighty dollar! Sounds reasonable enough, doesn’t it? Except if you sit and think about if for more than six seconds, you’ll pretty quickly realise that the releasing of a self-confessed ‘80’s goth-rock influenced’ album by an established ‘scarlet doom’ band who already have a history of dabbling in jazz and world music sounds about as unsellable a proposition as I can think of.
Will a goth-tinged album open a few new ears to Messa?… Probably. Will the same record close the ears of others?… Definitely… but this is merely Messa doing what they have always done during their 10+ year career to date. Messa are simply doing what they do in order to remain inspired and stay vital.
Shall I leave the review there? Maybe just add a little ‘make up your own mind’ for good luck? I could do, but as it happens (quite commonly with Messa) I do have a few things I’d like to mention whilst I have your hard-fought-for attention…
If you’ve heard the two singles in advance of the album release – At Races and The Dress – you’ll already know that the mention of the goth influence isn’t a mere nod to a costume choice in the video, it’s at the very core of the sound of those tracks, and of the whole album. However, in the context of the full album, the guitar sounds, the gated drums, and the overall shiny production doesn’t simply shout ‘GOTH’ at you over and over again, indeed I’d argue that after hearing the intro to At Races in its rightful place at track two, the sound is no longer a talking point.
Why is this? Well, I think it comes down to Messa’s authenticity in weaving the influence into their work, as opposed to shoehorning some random songs that they’d already written into an aesthetic… it sounds totally right, and therefore natural.
The Spin sets out its stall very gently with Void Meridian’s almost Vangelis-like intro, eventually giving way to the full-on goth riff at about the two-minute mark. One thing that Messa certainly aren’t likely to change any time soon is the generous reliance on the brilliant guitar solos of Alberto. This first one recalls about six different reference points within forty-five seconds but still manages to sound wholly unique – now that’s talent!
At Races will be familiar to almost all by now, and it’s a great track – exposure hasn’t dulled its impact one jot. Speaking of impact, we’re then into Fire On The Roof, which is an absolute stormer. This is going to be such a huge crowd-pleaser when they play it live. Any song which starts with a synth line that reminds me of a Rocky IV training montage is always going to get my vote, but it gets so much better from there. The chorus simply soars and bringing Sara’s vocals to the fore sounds spectacular.
Messa’s authenticity in weaving the influence into their work, as opposed to shoehorning some random songs that they’d already written into an aesthetic…
Immolation wisely brings us back down from such lofty heights and is a full-on ballad until about the two-and-a-half-minute mark, where Alberto goes into Ritchie Blackmore mode and sets fire to everything again. This moves us nicely into the second ‘single’, The Dress, which was released more recently so may not be as familiar to as many of you.
Suffice to say that this track pretty much sums up where Messa have got to in their collective musical journey to date. Over its eight-minute run time, we have some of the group’s finest musical performances, a vocal from Sara that is equal to anything else she’s delivered, and a dualling guitar and jazz trumpet solo, which is clearly where the web-trolls think the big bucks lie, haha.
Reveal gives us a strangely Iron Man-like intro riff (the Sabbath song, not the rich tit in a bombproof shellsuit) which along with Fire On The Roof is the most straightforwardly heavy track on the album… but of course this is Messa, so any hint of pure heaviness has some slide guitar included just to keep you on your toes.
Album closer, Thicker Blood, is the longest track at around nine minutes, and to my ears, this is the track that most looks back to the band’s past. The middle section is certainly the closest they’ve been to traditional doom for many years, and the whole thing wouldn’t sound entirely out of place if it were expertly inserted into Feast For Water’s tracklisting. This certainly isn’t a criticism either, as this morning, Feast… is my fave album of theirs, but ask me again after my lunch, and I’ll probably have changed my mind.
This constant flipping of my attention within their back catalogue is precisely the reason why The Spin works so well and why it will likely grow in people’s affections over the year. Messa are masters of making us dance to whatever beat is inspiring them at the time.
It wouldn’t surprise me if I were to ask each band member in eighteen months’ time which was their own favourite album (at which point, the automatic response of ‘the latest one, obviously’ will have had time to settle), they might all choose a different baby, because trying to simply compare, or even rank them is fruitless. All of them are gifts, it’s just that The Spin is wrapped in Sisters of Mercy-themed ribbons.
With all this said, it is of very little surprise that Messa are confident enough in their own abilities and in their fans’ open-heartedness to rock up to Roadburn this year and play The Spin in full live, and on the Main Stage, less than a week after its release date. Bold indeed, but we should expect nothing less.
Label: Metal Blade Records
Band Links: Facebook | Bandcamp | Spotify | Instagram
Scribed by: David J McLaren
