Italian doom metal alchemists MESSA will release their new full-length, The Spin, on April 11th through
their new label home of Metal Blade Records.
Sailing past their tenth anniversary in 2024, MESSA takes another step towards legendary status with
their majestic fourth album The Spin, which takes its listeners on a breathtaking journey across the
wide-open skies of their creative imagination and over a compelling landscape of moods, twists, and
styles. 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 – MESSA is audibly equipped for the
proverbial big leagues.
Palpably assembled with love and care, MESSA's heightened craftsmanship rings loud from the album's
elegant architecture. Written over six weeks of intensive daily sessions, in a 500-year-old villa close to the
quartet's beautiful hometown of Bassano Del Grappa (VI) in Northern Italy, MESSA applied scrupulously
high standards to the process, even while challenging themselves to change the way they work. "When
we recorded Close back in 2021, we wanted to be all in the same room together," explains the band.
"This time we decided to do the exact opposite. We recorded the album in three different locations and
timings. This record has seen a lot of rearrangement of the same musical material in order to make a
coherent work from start to finish. We also aimed at making the songs work with the most minimal
structure while trying not to repeat ourselves too much. We applied a simple rule: if you hear the same
thing twice it’s enough. Three times? It gets boring."
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 a territory we had never explored before, which
is the decade of the 1980s. We are aware that many bands before us took inspiration from that era, but
we decided to be careless and run away with it mainly because we get involved and question what we do.
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.
In advance of the release of The Spin, MESSA today unveils a video for the record’s first single, “At
Races.” The band elaborates, “This song is about the pressure we feel coming from the outside world.
Expectation often is the root of pain and we sense the strain of the weight other people lay upon our
shoulders. This song is born from our devotion to Killing Joke’s sonic language: our use of chorus-laden
guitar tapestries and synthesizers is a nod to their work during the ‘80s.”
The Spin was partly recorded, produced, mixed, and mastered by Maurizio “Icio” Baggio and includes a
trumpet solo by Michele Tedesco on “The Dress,” synth work by Andrea Mantione (Nuovo Testamento) on
“Fire On The Roof,” and cover art by Nico Vascellari.
The record will be released on CD (jewel case in the US and digipak in EU) and digital formats as well as
vinyl in the following color variants:
White (US)
180g Black (EU)
Night Blue Marbled (EU – Ltd. 1000)
Clear/Black Splatter (EU – Ltd. 500)
Pic-LP (EU Roadburn Exclusive – Ltd. 300)
Alternate Cover – Crystal Clear (EU Band Exclusive – Ltd. 500)
Alternate Cover – Silver/Black Splatter (EU – Ltd. 500)
Find all preorders at metalblade.com/messa. Find band exclusive vinyl at
messa.bandcamp.com/album/the-spin.
The Spin Track Listing
1. Void Meridian
2. At Races
3. Fire On The Roof
4. Immolation
5. The Dress
6. Reveal
7. Thicker Blood
MESSA has confirmed shows across Europe this Spring including a special performance at this year’s
edition of Roadburn where the band will play The Spin live in its stunning entirety.
https://www.facebook.com/MESSAproject
https://www.instagram.com/messa_band
https://messaproject.bandcamp.com
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCnSGTv_yAuP0cO2_D8rVqPg
https://www.metalblade.com
https://www.instagram.com/metalbladerecords
https://www.facebook.com/metalbladerecords
https://x.com/MetalBlade
https://www.metalblade.com/museum
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