Album Review: Messa – Live at Roadburn (Svart Records)

Messa, the Italian doom trailblazers’ unique sound was captured live at Roadburn Festival 2022, with a special extended line-up, immortalised on LP, CD and digital via Svart Records. This new live album presents select cuts from the band’s critically acclaimed album Close and will be released on April 7th, 2023.

Of their Roadburn performance, Messa share:

Our appearance at Roadburn 2022 saw us performing a specially dedicated and one of a kind set. We played songs from our new record CLOSE with a unique line-up that included other fellow musicians within our project. We involved Giorgio Trombino (Oud, Duduk, Saxophone), Alex Fernet (Mandolin, Acoustic Guitar) and Blak Saagan (Synthesizers) to recreate the sounds of CLOSE in their true form. Our aim with Messa’s performance was to embrace a musical wandering that could allow all of us – on and off stage – to drift away into another place. We couldn’t wait to be on Roadburn’s stage again and we were very excited to be part of the 2022 edition.

This is amazing. Not only does it convey the intensity of Messa’s dramatic doom sound but it shows just how strong they are as a live band. It might only be four tracks long, but this is epic music as only Messa are capable of.

Hauntingly beautiful, abrasively intense, and everything in between, the Messa experience is like nothing else in the doom world. Mainly because of the stunning vocals of Sara but also because they aren’t afraid to experiment. Live At Roadburn features tracks taken from their latest album Closer, released in March 2022, a clever decision as that album is phenomenal.

Yet, hearing the likes of Suspended and Pilgrim in this environment refreshes them. It’s not that they sound different to their album counterparts, but rather, they complement them. Especially when they recreate the more experimental elements too.

A live album should be able to make you feel like you’re there, hearing these songs played, even if you weren’t actually there. That task is accomplished with great aplomb here. Even if a little bit more crowd noise would be nice. Although it’s likely everyone was just too mesmerised by Messa’s performance throughout to make much noise!

Messa – Live at Roadburn Track Listing:

1. Suspended – Live at Roadburn Festival 2022
2. Orphalese – Live at Roadburn Festival 2022
3. 0=2 – Live at Roadburn Festival 2022
4. Pilgrim – Live at Roadburn Festival 2022

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