Photo by Nicola Pianalto
Watch MESSA’s video for “Reveal” HERE.
Italian doom metal outfit MESSA are pleased to unveil their new video for “Reveal.” The track comes off the band’s critically-adored new full-length, The Spin, released in April via Metal Blade Records.
Based in the band’s eclectic, self-defined “scarlet doom” sound, The Spin rises, falls, broods, bites, comforts, and destroys, all the while resounding with both instinctive magic and obsessive, concerted hard work. After lighting up the underground with a triptych of increasingly distinctive and wondrous records – 2016’s Belfry, 2018’s Feast For Water, and 2022’s Close – with The Spin, MESSA is audibly equipped for the proverbial big leagues.
Decibel Magazine championed, “… a sweeping statement that draws equally from doom and goth rock, with hefty doses of classic heavy metal and jazz thrown in.” Deaf Forever concurred, lauding the band’s, “…strongest album to date,” that, “definitively establishes MESSA as one of the most exciting and creative bands of the modern era.” Gushed New Noise Magazine, “…though all of their output makes for easy recommendations, it’s The Spin that finally shoulders MESSA out of the niche, best-kept-secret parameters they’ve been snagged in and onwards towards the oh, so elite, ‘many are called but few are chosen’ province of unequivocal, rock n’ roll preeminence. This is analogous to Soundgarden’s flight path from Badmotorfinger to Superunknown.” Added Metal Hammer Germany, “Anyone who appreciates the free-spirited combination of an exceptional voice with plenty of quiet moments and some blaring riffs will find MESSA to be the perfect band.”
Comments the band on their “Reveal” video, “The main riff in ‘Reveal’ manifested itself spontaneously. Our guitar player Alberto dreamed of it one night. He suddenly woke up at 4:00am and recorded it with his phone so he wouldn’t forget it. It was the most immediate song to write out of all those we wrote for The Spin and it features two key elements: the typical, ‘blues’ use of slide guitar and the ‘metal’ element of the blastbeats. This video was entirely shot with analog equipment in a tire warehouse in our hometown. We chose the lo-fi aesthetic on purpose, using the dynamism of strob and neon lights. We tried to make it as spontaneous as the songwriting process for the track.”
Watch MESSA’s video for “Reveal” HERE.
Watch MESSA’s previously released video for “At Races” HERE, “The Dress” HERE, and “Fire On The Roof” HERE.
The Spin was partly recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered by Maurizio “Icio” Baggio and includes synth work by Andrea Mantione (Nuovo Testamento) on “Fire On The Roof” and cover art by Nico Vascellari (Uroboro, 2023. Nero Portoro marble, tire. 57 x 57 x 10 cm).
The record is available now on CD, vinyl, and digital formats at metalblade.com/messa.
Next month, MESSA will serve as direct support to Paradise Lost on a month-long European trek. The Ascension Of Europe Tour 2025 begins on October 9th in Manchester, United Kingdom and runs through November 6th in Antwerp, Belgium. Additional support will be provided by Lacrimas Profundere and High Parasite on select shows. See all confirmed dates below.
MESSA w/ Paradise Lost, High Parasite:
10/09/2025 New Century Hall – Manchester, UK
10/10/2025 KK’s Steel Mill – Wolverhampton, UK
10/11/2025 University – Newcastle, UK
10/12/2025 Garage – Glasgow, UK
10/14/2025 Rescue Rooms – Nottingham, UK
10/15/2025 SWX – Bristol, UK
10/16/2025 The 1865 – Southampton, UK
10/17/2025 Islington Assembly Hall – London, UK
10/19/2025 Tyrant Fest – Lille, FR **
w/ Paradise Lost, Lacrimas Profundere:
10/20/2025 Elysée Montmartre – Paris, FR
10/21/2025 La Rayonne – Lyon, FR
10/23/2025 Live Music Hall – Cologne, DE
10/24/2025 Rockhal – Luxembourg, LU **
10/25/2025 Conrad Sohm – Dornbirn, AT
10/26/2025 Hall – Padova, IT **
10/28/2025 Backstage Werk – Munich, DE
10/29/2025 Palac Akropolis – Prague, CZ
10/30/2025 Boogaloo – Zagreb, HR
10/31/2025 SiMM City – Vienna, AT
11/01/2025 Durer Kert – Budapest, HU
11/03/2025 PTR/L’Usine – Geneva, CH **
11/04/2025 Z-Bau – Nürnberg, DE
11/05/2025 Pandora – Utrecht, NL
11/06/2025 Trix Hall – Antwerp, BE
** Paradise Lost, MESSA only
More on MESSA:
MESSA‘s signature sound absorbs influences from jazz and blues, punk and prog, and black metal and dark ambient, but their restless experimentalism has extraordinarily smooth and assured results. The Spin incorporates another new element, interpolating an ‘80s goth rock vibe in typically full-blooded fashion. “We don’t like to repeat ourselves and we constantly try to find a new language to express while keeping our identity,” stresses the band. “This time we delved into the decade of the 1980s. We are not part of the ‘dark scene’ in any way. The influence for this record looks back to the early goth rock/dark wave rather than the later emanations of the genre.” In addition to Sisters Of Mercy and Virgin Prunes, the band cites records by Killing Joke, Mercyful Fate, Jimmy Page, Journey, The Sound, Boy Harsher, and Vangelis as impacting significantly upon the creation of The Spin.
Something that seems to get both easier and harder at the same time are Sara’s remarkable vocals. With greater experience of stage and studio, her beguiling pipes continue getting stronger and more versatile; so the singing here is more assertive and confident, but the singer’s concerted push to new heights comes somewhat at the expense of a healthy mental equilibrium. “For this record I gave up parts of my own sanity,” reveals Sara. “I wore myself in so many different ways… You can’t lie when you’re singing. My aim was to record my parts in the most honest way possible. Mix-wise, the vocals are more on the spotlight, in true ‘80s fashion. The lyrics touch on multiple topics throughout the record; destroying one’s ego, impossible cursed love, giving up on yourself, others’ expectations, self-sabotage, resurrection. While we were touring the US I reread some books by Cormac McCarthy. It was crucial to pave the way I wanted to express myself. I think the lyrics this time are more ‘straight in your face.’ I used metaphors like I always did, but I wanted to get more verbally naked and raw. I never spoke so clearly in our previous records about insecurity, misery, uneasiness, anguish and distress.”
MESSA:
Sara – vocals
Marco – guitars/bass
Alberto – guitars
Rocco – drums
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