Italian doom metallers MESSA have released a new single, a Cold Cave remix of "At Races," the original of which appears on the band's critically acclaimed 2025 full-length, "The Spin," via Metal Blade Records. The remix reworks the enveloping original into darkwave and synthpop territory.
Vocalist Sarah spoke at length about her personal connection to Cold Cave ahead of the remix's release. "Anyone who knows me personally and is close to me in real life is aware of my adoration for Cold Cave. From the lyrics, to the sounds, the spectrum of feelings, the somber aesthetic and visuals," she said. "On a private sidenote, even though I love all of their catalog, their album 'Cherish The Light Years' particularly helped me navigate some hard moments and kept me going. Few bands deal with the inadequacy of being in this world as perfectly as they do. Knowing I am not the only one that feels a deep connection to their material, it's an incredible pleasure to share this collaboration. Hope you'll dance to it, sing to it, get carried away. And I hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did, under a starry summer sky."
The remix arrives alongside confirmed live plans that will keep MESSA on the road through the rest of 2026. Following a run of summer festival appearances across Italy and Switzerland, the band returns to North America this fall as direct support to UNCLE ACID AND THE DEADBEATS, with the trek running September 5 through October 11 and including several MESSA headlining dates scattered throughout the itinerary. From there, MESSA embarks on a European and U.K. headline tour running October 27 through November 21, with support from labelmates THE NIGHT ETERNAL.
"The Spin" marked another stylistic expansion for a band whose sound has long absorbed jazz, blues, punk, prog, black metal and dark ambient influences without losing its core identity, this time folding in an '80s goth rock sensibility. "We don't like to repeat ourselves and we constantly try to find a new language to express while keeping our identity," the band has said of the album. "This time we delved into a territory we had never explored before, which is the decade of the 1980s. We are aware that many bands before us took inspiration from that era, but we decided to be careless and run away with it mainly because we get involved and question what we do. We are not part of the 'dark scene' in any way. The influence for this record looks back to the early goth rock/dark wave rather than the later emanations of the genre." Beyond SISTERS OF MERCY and VIRGIN PRUNES, the band has cited KILLING JOKE, MERCYFUL FATE, Jimmy Page, JOURNEY, THE SOUND, BOY HARSHER and Vangelis as key reference points for the record.
MESSA Live
Summer Festivals
- July 25, 2026 — Rock N Bol, Sardegna, IT
- August 8, 2026 — Palp Festival, Couvert du Goly, CH
- August 29, 2026 — Suburbiae Unexpected Fest, Teramo, IT
U.S. Dates (w/ Uncle Acid And The Deadbeats, ** = MESSA headlining date)
- Sept. 5 — Acid Bath After Party @ Eulogy, Asheville, NC **
- Sept. 6 — Richmond Music Hall, Richmond, VA **
- Sept. 8 — Neighborhood Theatre, Charlotte, NC
- Sept. 9 — The Masquerade, Atlanta, GA
- Sept. 10 — Brooklyn Bowl, Nashville, TN
- Sept. 11 — White Water Tavern, Little Rock, AR **
- Sept. 12 — The Studio @ Bomb Factory, Dallas, TX
- Sept. 13 — Levitation Festival, Austin, TX
- Sept. 15 — Sunshine Theater, Albuquerque, NM
- Sept. 16 — La Rosa, Tucson, AZ
- Sept. 18 — The Portal @ AREA15, Las Vegas, NV
- Sept. 19 — Observatory North Park, San Diego, CA
- Sept. 20 — The Bellwether, Los Angeles, CA
- Sept. 21 — The Regency Ballroom, San Francisco, CA
- Sept. 22 — The Alpine, Reno, NV **
- Sept. 24 — Knitting Factory, Boise, ID
- Sept. 25 — Roseland Theater, Portland, OR
- Sept. 26 — The Showbox, Seattle, WA
- Sept. 27 — The Cobalt, Vancouver, BC **
- Sept. 29 — The Complex, Salt Lake City, UT
- Sept. 30 — Gothic Theatre, Englewood, CO
- Oct. 2 — Varsity Theater, Minneapolis, MN
- Oct. 3 — Slowdown, Omaha, NE
- Oct. 4 — Concord Music Hall, Chicago, IL
- Oct. 5 — Pyramid Scheme, Grand Rapids, MI **
- Oct. 6 — Danforth Music Hall, Toronto, ON
- Oct. 7 — Theatre Beanfield, Montreal, QC
- Oct. 8 — The Palladium, Worcester, MA
- Oct. 9 — Nevermore Hall, Baltimore, MD
- Oct. 11 — Irving Plaza, New York, NY
EU/UK Dates (w/ special guest The Night Eternal)
- Oct. 27 — Le Dodu, Marseille, FR
- Oct. 28 — Sala Salamandra, Barcelona, ES
- Oct. 29 — Sala Copernico, Madrid, ES
- Oct. 30 — Antirouille, Montpellier, FR
- Oct. 31 — Westill Fest, Nantes, FR
- Nov. 1 — Petit Bain, Paris, FR
- Nov. 3 — Cathouse, Glasgow, UK
- Nov. 4 — Rebellion, Manchester, UK
- Nov. 5 — Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, UK
- Nov. 6 — Thekla, Bristol, UK
- Nov. 7 — The Garage, London, UK
- Nov. 9 — 13, Tilburg, NL
- Nov. 10 — Kavka, Antwerp, BE
- Nov. 12 — Franz Club, Berlin, DE
- Nov. 13 — Logo, Hamburg, DE
- Nov. 14 — Rockpalast, Bochum, DE
- Nov. 15 — Artheater, Cologne, DE
- Nov. 17 — Das Bett, Frankfurt, DE
- Nov. 18 — Backstage Club, Munich, DE
- Nov. 19 — Dynamo, Zurich, CH
- Nov. 21 — Live Club, Trezzo sull'Adda, IT