Messiya – Erzsebet (2010)

All the way from Siberia we get “Erzsebet” a four song EP from the Black/Death Metal band Messiya. While very short, the EP will leave you with a good impression of what Erzsebet is capable off.

The four songs in this release feature somewhat sub-par production values since the drums sound ‘weird’ and very mechanized, and the overall sound is kind of hollow, but is good enough to showcase the ideas behind’s the band’s music. Since the EP is short we will go over each track providing brief commentary on them.

“Obrechennost” is the first track and starts very well paced. It does not jump into raw brutality or anything like that, but it has a strong identity. Here is where you notice that the drums sound funky and sometimes they remind me of punk albums. Other than that this short song is a good pick to open this EP.

“M-D” is the second track, and here the drumming and riffing starts faster than before. The band picks up the pace a bit in this short song.

“Erzsebet” is the next song, and here you start noticing some of the formulas behind this band. The whole riffing and kick drum sections, followed by a similar approach but with vocals on top. This formula is very standard for this type of releases, and while the riffs are interesting, this sounds a bit old. And of course you can expect the furious drumming to follow these sections and pretty much finish up the song.

“Whore” is the last track and it follows the natural progression of each track getting better as the EP draws its conclusion. Again, the riffing proposes something interested but gets drowned by the formulas behind the music. We would recommend the band to stop worrying about how songs should be structured and worry more about using their riffs in more creative ways.

Overall “Erzsebet” is a decent release that lacks some production values (in the drums and better mixing), it features some promise in a few parts and shows that Messiya is on the right track. The band needs to work more in the creative aspect of their music and break free from the formulas behind creating songs. We expect to hear better stuff from this band in the future, so keep and eye for them.

Release: 09/09/09

Country: Russia