messa
The 30 Best Albums of 2022 (So Far)
The following acts released quality albums in May 2022 alone: Radiohead off-shoot The Smile, Kendrick Lamar, Wilco, Arcade Fire, Sharon Van Etten, The Black Keys, Florence + the Machine, Harry Styles — we’ll stop there for space reasons. It’s been such a wild music year so far, only some of them made the following list. Maybe 2022 was just front-loaded and the final six months will be less eventful. (Judging by the release calendar, that’s probably a bad prediction.) Either way, we had trouble even narrowing this down to 30. Let’s meet back here at year’s end and see how things shake out. 30. Caracara – New Preoccupations Fans of classic 2000s emo — Say Anything, Dashboard Confessional, or Circa Survive, for example — are sure to find something to love in Caracara’s New Preoccupations (and...
Blast Rites: Messa Bring Mediterranean Surroundings and Energy to Doom Metal With Close
Back in 2016, when this column had a different name in a different publication, I stumbled upon Italian doom band Messa and their debut full-length, Belfry. It lit in me a particular fire — a fire signaling that this band could really cross over. While Belfry could go into dimly lit drones and dark jazz excursions, the band never lost sight of doom fundamentals — crushing riffs that leant to a suffocating yet enticing atmosphere, and a captivating vocal performance from Sara Bianchin, who strikes that sweet spot of virtuosity and bluesy warmth. When it hits, it hits. Familiar yet enticing, Messa definitely had everything in line for a wider audience. They recently released Close through Finnish indie label Svart, and they’ve cut through the fog in more ways than one — not only do they soun...
