Messa – The Spin (Album Review)

Messa – The Spin
Released: April 11, 2025

Line Up

Sara Bianchin // Vocals 
Alberto Piccolo // Guitar & Piano 
Rocco Toaldo // Drums 
Marco Zanin // Bass  

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A psychic once told me I was a 1600s witch in my past life. She told me my body was burned at the stake, and my soul will carry this trauma with each life it leads. 

If past lives are as true as they say, I think the members of Italian metal outfit, Messa, must have suffered the same fate. For Messa’s sound propels me back to a time that I can’t remember but can feel searing at my bones as if it were yesterday. 

The quartet’s new record, The Spin, maintains this classically ominous and witchy atmosphere, but isn’t predictable, as it draws on elements of a new goth rock and dark wave influence that build this rich, smooth and expensive allure. 

The Spin is riddled with sultry guitar solos, angelic and harrowing vocals, lounge-jazz interludes and fuzzy, distorted riffs. This striking combination of sounds flows effortlessly and perfectly displays the band’s fusion of doom, progressive, jazz, dark ambient, punk, blues and black metal, a Frankenstein’s monster of genres the band has rightfully dubbed: ‘scarlet doom’. 

This self-styled scarlet doom makes itself known in first track, ‘Void Meridan’. This introductory number leads the record with a pulsing and ascending ambiance like the song is loading into action. Sara Bianchin’s vocals then float onto the track with a siren-like delicacy. What I love about Sara’s vocals is their ability to build this hazy bubble around the listener’s head. Her voice’s echoing nature is instantly entrancing and causes listeners to wander off into their own universes. In my opinion, this is everything a good atmospheric record should do – it should allow the listener to become one with the music, to live inside it in a dusky daydream. 

This daydream continues with the following number, ‘At Races’. There could not be a more fitting title for this number, with Rocco Toaldo’s rhythmic drumming akin to a galloping mare. The lyrics also surround this theme of racing horses: Kicking like a horse / At races / Every stare / Weighs on my severed head. To be an artist is to run against your peers, to compete for a collection of prying eyes. The horses will race until they are put down, and the musician will craft until their audience leaves them in the dust. This lyricism painfully symbolises the plight of struggling musicians, the tiring race for attention. I think the lyricism of goth and doom has a tendency to be slightly corny – like they are desperate to be deep, dark and meaningful. However, this does not occur with Messa, as their lyricism is effortlessly foreboding. In this track, Messa proves themselves as poets as well as musicians. 

In their poeticism however, Messa does not abandon their heaviness. The album's third offering, ‘Fire on the Roof’, proves Marco Zanin and Alberto Piccolo’s hefty riffage is still intact. The thick and fuzzy guitars provide a head-banging hymn that draws on the punk elements of scarlet doom. It switches up the pace and proves yet again this is no ordinary rock record. 

The pace is decelerated once more with ‘Immolation’ which only adds to the album’s witchy nature, with immolation meaning to sacrifice something by flame. It opens with this sombre and weighty piano, lulling listeners into a false sense of calm. A fourth guitar solo then cuts through the melancholy, hitting with a triumphant and heartfelt break. Yet another thing I adore about this record is how the guitar solos act as vocals themselves, you can feel the conquest, the sorrow and the anguish as if there are lyrics alongside the instrumental. Some would argue there are too many solos in this project, but I have to disagree, as they cut through the atmosphere and maintain constant engagement. 

‘The Dress’ follows and ups the record’s mystery to a ten. Opening with this tip-toeing and inquisitive riff, it is something that could be featured on a daytime detective TV show (in the best way possible). The fluttering riffs and snares are then broken by this velvety saxophone instrumental. Suddenly, I’m playing the detective. I’m sitting in a smoky bar with a glass of whisky and I’m keenly observing my number one suspect who takes a long drag of their cigarette at the end of the bar. The lounge-jazz influence transforms The Spin from a witch to a smartly dressed Bond villain, once again keeping listeners on their toes. 

I was yet again thrown into another reality with ‘Reveal’. This one opens with a desolate, western riff. You would think something so far from the gothic would sound out of place on the record, but it blends smoothly and saunters into a distorted, sludge-like instrumental. It is swampy, villainous and surprisingly catchy. 

‘Thicker Blood’ offers a perfect close to the album. It has this ascending and descending sound that crashes like slow waves on an empty beach. It builds with plenty of distortion and powerful vocals, providing keen anticipation throughout. It has these brief moments of blast beats and speedy guitar that convey that hellish black metal sound, which is only further highlighted by the harrowing screams that close the track. ‘Thicker Blood’ is a perfect summary of the album in its engaging and cohesive variety of noise.  

The Spin by Messa is a truly enchanting record that toes the line between angelic and demonic. Its juxtaposing sounds breed an evocative story that ebbs and flows with each track, luring listeners in with a hauntingly beautiful experience. The Spin is the witch, the dreamer, the midnight mare, the siren, the punk and the villain. It is everything to look for in an atmospheric record and I pray the Italian quartet will find themselves on Australian shores soon. 

Rating: 9/10
The Spin is out now via Metal Blade Records // stream here
Review by Grace Cameron @gracicxo