Massa Nera

Photo Credit 📷 :

Today, Not Just a Phase World Wide, (the Big Screamo Money Mega Corporation) is giving you the best thing since break room pizza. It is a gift packed with a powerful message. That gift is “Mechanical Sunrise,” the debut single from the forthcoming Massa Nera record, The Emptiness of All Things. The spastic brand of screamo delivered by the Garden State quartet is sure to deliver for fans new and old, and the music video is, quite frankly, pretty on the fuckin’ nose.

Now, there is the possibility that you come here from the future, somehow, and the context of this current moment may be lost on you. I can’t quite set the stage, but I digress. In the last few weeks there has been unrest and violence running rampant. A politician was elected via Discord while government buildings burned. Americans were real excited about football teams. Tim Apple talked about a new iPhone. The National Guard is.. everywhere? What do you know about AI? Did you even ChatGPT this week? 

Examination of the music video might best be done under the lens of the current political and economic landscape, with views on capitalism and the inherent violence therein, as this is just the lens that has influenced the music video. “The video is about a beleaguered salary-man who works a thankless job as a door-to-door sales rep for Massa Nera Inc. The most recent quarterly report was less than ideal, so the CEO of Massa Nera Inc. has our hero making the rounds in an attempt to create interest in our music. This goes as well as you'd expect. When all hope seems lost, however, the salesperson realizes that they can utilize their despair to achieve more favorable outcomes.” 

Do we not find it odd that the heartstrings of prospective buyers are so manipulated by the despair of the sales person? Does our collective empathy make us a more supple harvest? Are we more willing to consume a product we vehemently opposed now that it aligns with our values? “Do you fear environmental collapse? Listen to Messa Nera” reads a placard held by the main character, and you know what, I do fear environmental collapse. 

How many companies made attempts at “going green” to catch a break on their taxes while hoping environmental consumers might spend a little more on their product? Now I hadn’t thought on Žižek in a while, although I see Living in the End Times on a shelf daily and laugh at the irony… Here I can’t help but to think about this quote: “Couldn’t the entire history of humanity be seen as a growing normalisation of injustice, entailing the nameless and faceless suffering of millions?” Is this not an injustice to society?

This is the great sword of capitalism come to chop us down. It is of course, the very same philosopher who helped to influence this track, inspired by his notion of liberal communism (that we can have our cake [profitable entrepreneurs] and eat it, too [espouse the socially responsible values abhorrent to capitalism].

“THE SONG IS SUPPOSED TO BE SARDONIC, SINCE IT’S OBVIOUSLY ABSURD TO THINK THAT WIDESPREAD ADOPTION OF REFORMIST GREEN CAPITALIST MEASURES WILL SAVE US. DOES ANYONE EVEN BELIEVE THAT NOW, OR DO WE JUST CONVINCE OURSELVES THAT WE DO?”

- MARK BOULANGER, @MESSA_NERA

This is what has me deep in my feels tonight, trying to reconcile every Monday from here until the end so that somebody else can buy a nicer car. I’ll justify my purchases by picking the lesser evils, buying quality goods made in America by companies who recycle, use less water, and get energy credits from solar panels. The argument isn’t that those things are bad, but that those things aren’t enough. On conservation we consider the National Parks and Lakeshores that we’ve preserved, but have we added to it? 

If you didn’t come for the pontificating, this is probably the paragraph will interest you most. New Jersey sweethearts waste no time picking up where they left off on the 2022 full length, Derramar | Querer | Borrar. With a heaviness that evokes sludge while slipping in a sinister sound then pivoting to dance infused hi-hats and snotty punk vocals, the track seems to travel the spectrum of sound the band has brandished for years. It’s no wonder they’ve been compared to legendary bands like City of Caterpillar, when they’ve existed in a space that seems to bridge generations of screamo fans, serving as a gateway of discovery. 

Enjoy “Mechanical Sunrise” and know that while you’re contemplating your role in the violent capitalistic society that shackles you that I am considering my shackles, too. And the folks at Messa Nera Inc., well they’re considering the role, too: “In the end, the salesperson exceeds their quota and gets a fittingly vile reward. Nothing was learned, no connections were made, and the world continues turning.” 

The Emptiness of All Things drops October 31st, 2025, and I’m excited for the bleak adventure we can suffer together. We hope you enjoy the video for “Mechanical Sunrise.” Massa Nera has all their music available on their Bandcamp and physical media can be purchased through the band, or through the incredible labels Persistent Vision & Deathwish Inc.

Massa Nera is Aeryn Jade Santillan on vocals & bass/ synth
Christopher Rodriguez & Allen Núñez are vocals and guitars
Mark Boulanger is on vocals, drums, percussions and keyboard

Follow Massa Nera on Bandcamp here : Massa Nera

Writer : @garevthistle

Editor : @just_reidz

09/16/25

Follow & support Not Just A Phase by helping us continue to grow and cover more bands through patreon.com/notjustaphaseworldwide and buymeacoffee.com/notjustaphaseworldwide