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The fourth album for Messa finds them coming back from the occult rock/atmospheric direction that I felt brought down the last few albums and hitting their stride with grooving, arcane music that nobody else does like this. Fresh off the spectacular tour-de-force of Live at Roadburn, Messa have dug back into the roots of their sound to produce what I think is their best work.

Everything just works here: the songwriting is sharp and economical, filled with tight hooks and heavy atmosphere, while vocalist Sara Bianchin weaves haunting vocal lines and dominates with her eldritch charisma. She doesn't sound as good as she does live, but she still sounds amazing. I would legit kill to hear songs like "Fire on the Roof" in person. This isn't the heaviest album you will ever hear, but I don't care about that when I am hearing it. Spellbinding.