Man, there are a lot of solid doom bands out there today, and Messa is the latest, though perhaps not greatest of the bunch. The band features all of the modern doom clichés, steeping their music in Pentagram worship and using earthy female vocals to resonate over top of sludgy guitars. In that regard Messa's Belfry is indeed a strong modern doom record. For better or for worse, we have a ton of female fronted Pentagram worship going on right now in the metal scene, and as you come to the closing moments of this record, you start to wonder where this band has left to go. It feels like Belfry is a very final statement – it's a strong one to be sure, but the band has kind of limited their options with the sonic palate presented here. Belfry falls into that weird subcategory of record where there is nothing bad about it necessarily, but I would be hard pressed to make a claim that there were any number of truly good elements being featured here.
I think the thing that really throws me off about Belfry is how meandering the record can be. While their peers in similar sounding groups like Holy Roar or Witch Mountain try to emphasize the sense of forward momentum in their music, Belfry kicks off with four and a half minutes of barely audible noise. The individual riffs tend to be strong, but far too often I feel like they aren't building towards anything. Meanwhile the frontwomans voice, while certainly sultry and powerful, is never really pushed, making the entire effort feel a little bit droney. Sure – that's a valid artistic choice, but it also kind of forces Belfry into a corner and makes you wonder why you got so invested into this record in the first place. All the right notions are in place, but when a band seems to be stuck in a pit of quicksand you have to tell it like it is. Though there are cool ideas at play here. I'm just not sure where Messa are trying to take them.
Knowing that I already come off as a dick in this review I'd rather not double down and instead take a minute to focus on the positive. Belfry has some wonderful production, and there is indeed something rather cathartic about the way that they pulse into your headphones. Technically these guys show real talent too, and I think once they get over their Electric Wizard obsession and sharpen up their tone they could be on to something truly special. The riffs definitely touch on something primal in all of us and the solos have echoes of many of the great stoner doom guitarists to have come before. They hint at greater things to come and hint at the true skill and potential of Messa. This is a doom band only just starting to make good, but with the potential to go far. Joining them for the ride could be a fun and wonderfully trippy intergalactic time.
Score: 6/10
