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About MESSA's New Album 'The Spin
Italian doom metal conjurers MESSA are set to drop their fourth full-length opus, The Spin, on April 11th via their new home, Metal Blade Records.
Marking over a decade of sonic alchemy in 2024, MESSA's latest creation pushes the boundaries of their already formidable legacy. A cinematic journey through soaring creativity and shifting emotional landscapes, The Spin builds upon the band’s self-proclaimed “scarlet doom” ethos. It’s an album that roars, broods, and devastates — a testament to both raw instinct and relentless craftsmanship.
With previous releases like Belfry (2016), Feast for Water (2018), and Close (2022) carving out a cult following in the underground scene, The Spin feels like the band stepping boldly into their next evolutionary phase. This record doesn’t just whisper ambitions of greatness — it howls them.
Crafted with obsessive care, The Spin came to life during an intensive six-week creative retreat in a 500-year-old villa near their picturesque hometown of Bassano del Grappa, Italy. MESSA pushed themselves creatively, breaking past old patterns to craft something entirely fresh.
"When we recorded Close, we wanted to be together in the same room," the band reflects. "This time, we flipped the process. We recorded in three separate locations and reshaped material repeatedly to create something coherent yet unpredictable. If something played twice felt sufficient — done. Three times? Forget it."
In The Spin, listeners will hear not only MESSA’s meticulous artistry but also the pulse of a band on the brink of full creative liberation.
"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 sonic DNA is a swirling blend of jazz, blues, punk, prog, black metal, and dark ambient — a melting pot of influences that somehow produces results as seamless as they are adventurous. The Spin takes their already eclectic sound even further, injecting a fresh dose of ‘80s goth rock energy into the mix without sacrificing their signature doom-laden vibe.
"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."
Unlike modern interpretations of the goth scene, MESSA’s inspiration comes straight from the roots — early goth rock and dark wave rather than later offshoots. Think Sisters of Mercy, Virgin Prunes, and Killing Joke, but filtered through the band’s uncompromising vision. They also draw influence from an unexpected lineup, including Mercyful Fate, Jimmy Page, Journey, The Sound, Boy Harsher, and even Vangelis.
The result? The Spin feels less like a retro experiment and more like a bold new chapter — a sonic testament to MESSA's boundless creativity and refusal to colour inside the lines.
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 Spin Album Art:
Where can I listen to "The Spin" by MESSA?
The Spin will be available April 11th, 2025 to stream on Spotify and Apple Music. To purchase a physical LP, head to the Metal Blade Records website.
