Messiah – Christus Hypercubus (High Roller Records)
Monday, 4th March 2024
Previously forming in 1984, Swiss act Messiah released five albums from 1986-1994, also being a part of the infamous Noise Records roster during the early 90s. They reformed in 2018, releasing their next album Fracmont in 2020, before tragically losing their vocalist Andy Kaina in November 2022 at the age of 53 due to a heart attack. Securing a new vocalist in Marcus Seebach, here we go again with Messiah and their newest album Christus Hypercubus.
Now admittedly I knew nothing about this band, but this album spoke to me. And with each listen I knew it was a good one. Don’t believe me? Take a listen to “Centipede Bite” or the title track. Yep. The varied guitar melodies show their faces on tracks like “Once Upon a Time… Nothing” and the immediate follow-up “Speedsucker Romance,” barely giving you time to get your bearings before holding your head high! “Centipede Bite” is a full-on attack of the senses, which is A-OK with this guy! Meanwhile “Soul Observatory” just rocks, and “Acid Bath” is a tune that makes you wanna break things to.
The album ends with “The Venus Baroness I” and “The Venus Baroness II”. Both tracks work well together and wrap up this journey perfectly. Again, I didn’t know these guys before, yet love them now. The album is out now on High Roller Records. So go get yours – especially if you live for a crushing hard and fast sound that straddles the lines of death/thrash.
Standout Tracks: “Centipede Bite”, “Acid Bath’, “Soul Observatory”
