Review Summary: Hints of a new gothic direction balanced out by some lingering experimental doom
Messa’s fourth full-length sees the Italian group in a rather interesting position. Their first three installments established an eclectic worldly doom that culminated with 2022’s Close, the sort of near-perfection that gets precarious when one wonders where they could even go from there. Fortunately, The Spin doesn’t attempt to top its predecessors so much as redirect its focus, scaling back to a much shorter forty-one minutes. But even with this seeming accessibility and relatively streamlined structures, they’re still finding new influences to add to their unique blend.
This sentiment is immediately at the forefront as the album’s first half is primarily driven by upbeat goth-rock unlike anything Messa has done before. “Void Meridian” sets a hazy overcast with a creeping synth climb and powerfully echoing vocals, but things really take off with the peppy-turned-spaced-out “At Races” and “Fire On The Roof.” Parallels could be drawn to the gothic-trad metal crop of bands like Sonja or Spell but the approach here still retains those doomy roots.
Once the piano-driven balladry of “Immolation” signals a beautiful halfway point, the rest of The Spin’s songs show drawn-out experimental extravagance is still pretty Close to their hearts. This is especially indicative with the eight-plus minutes of “The Dress” and the closing “Thicker Blood,” the former’s drama effectively conveying soft/heavy shifts topped with a classy saxophone/guitar trade-off. “Reveal” is a hard-hitting shakeup in between with flurrying blasts and guitar work that surges from bluesy slides to brutal chugs.
With hints of a new direction balanced out by some lingering flourishes, Messa adjusts their scope without coming up short on The Spin. The sequential songwriting makes the album’s transitional nature easier to swallow; they’re still at their best when going all-in on the sprawling theatrics but it could be neat to see how their newfound goth tendencies get finetuned further. Close might still be the standard I hold the band to for the foreseeable future, but this is a damn good effort that I hope expands their profile even further.
