Italian experimental metal outfit Messa entered a new phase with its third full-length release, “Close,” an album that stretches the group’s doom foundation into increasingly theatrical and exploratory territory. Released in March 2022 through Svart Records, the record finds the band drawing on progressive rock, jazz, occult cinema and heavy blues without allowing any one influence to dominate. The result is a spacious, often unpredictable collection that rewards listeners willing to follow its lengthy and sharply shifting compositions.

The Spin

Since forming in the Veneto region, Messa has cultivated a reputation for treating doom metal less as a fixed genre than as a flexible emotional language. Earlier work paired dense riffs with atmospheric passages and unconventional stylistic turns, but “Close” places greater emphasis on openness, dynamics and instrumental color. The album’s arrangements regularly move from near-silence to distortion, using contrast rather than constant heaviness to create tension.

Belfry

“Suspended” establishes that approach with restrained guitar lines and a slow-building sense of unease. Vocalist Sara delivers a performance that moves between smoky intimacy and full-bodied power, giving the song a dramatic center even when the instruments remain sparse. The track eventually folds jazz-inflected phrasing into its doom framework, an unlikely combination that feels deliberate rather than ornamental.

Feast For Water

Elsewhere, “Dark Horse” leans toward the driving energy of 1970s hard rock while retaining Messa’s darker identity. Its riffs have a brighter, more mobile quality than the band’s most traditionally doom-oriented material, suggesting an affinity with classic heavy metal as much as modern occult rock. The song demonstrates how the group can make its references audible without sounding trapped by nostalgia.

Messa - The Spin

The album’s most ambitious moments arrive in longer compositions such as “Pilgrim,” which uses Mediterranean, Middle Eastern and flamenco-adjacent textures to widen the band’s palette. As the piece develops, leaner melodic passages give way to heavier stoner-doom momentum, while Sara’s voice takes on an almost ritualistic intensity. Saxophone and duduk contributions from Giorgio Trombino further deepen the atmosphere, pointing toward the cinematic traditions associated with composers such as Ennio Morricone and Lalo Schifrin.

Messa Di Gloria / Preludio Sinfonico / Crisantemi

That sense of scale is one of “Close”’s greatest strengths, though it also exposes some of the record’s limitations. At more than an hour in length, the album occasionally tests the patience of listeners, particularly during the extended “0=2,” which contains compelling ideas but does not always sustain its running time. The placement of the brief, abrasive “Leffotrak” after a more patient and subdued passage also creates a deliberately jarring break that may divide audiences.

Messa Da Requiem

Production choices add another layer to the record’s character. Much of the album benefits from a warm, immersive sound that allows guitars, percussion and wind instruments to occupy distinct spaces. However, some of the denser sections, particularly on “Rubedo,” can become compressed and murky, slightly reducing the impact of the band’s detailed arrangements. Those imperfections do little to erase the broader impression of a group willing to take risks beyond the usual confines of heavy music.

Sara remains central to Messa’s identity, not simply as a commanding singer but as a performer able to adapt to the music’s changing demands. She shifts from mournful doom phrasing to jazz-lounge inflections and soaring rock vocals without losing emotional credibility. Behind her, guitarists Alberto and Marco Sade balance crushing riffs with expressive leads, while drummer Mistyr moves confidently between weighty metal rhythms and more fluid, jazz-informed patterns.

Within the broader heavy-music landscape, “Close” reflects a growing appetite for artists who blur the boundaries between metal, experimental rock and regional musical traditions. Messa does not approach genre fusion as a novelty; instead, the band uses each element to reinforce mood and narrative. The album may not achieve perfect consistency, but its best passages rank among the most evocative and adventurous doom-adjacent music of its period.

“Close” ultimately stands as a challenging but absorbing statement from Messa, a band whose ambitions continue to exceed easy classification. Its occasional excesses come with the territory of a record that values discovery over efficiency. For listeners drawn to heavy music with cinematic breadth, expressive vocals and a willingness to wander into unfamiliar terrain, Messa offers a richly textured experience that reveals more with repeated plays.

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