#AlbumReview: Chainlacing – Messuage
Artist: Chainlacing
Title: Messuage
Label: These Hands Melt
Release date: June 19th, 2026
Country: Boston, USA
Format reviewed: High-quality digital recording
#AlbumReview: Chainlacing – Overdetermined via These Hands Melt by Pegah
“Messuage”, the new album by Chainlacing, was released on June 19 via These Hands Melt. Prior to the album’s release, the band unveiled two singles, “Overdetermined” and “Simulacra”, both of which I previously reviewed. While those tracks offered the first glimpses into the world of “Messuage”, listening to the album in its entirety reveals a much broader sonic and conceptual landscape. This time, I am stepping beyond the individual singles to explore the album as a whole.
“Messuage” originally evokes something concrete and physical—a house, a homeland, somewhere one belongs. In a broader sense, however, it can also represent the environment that surrounds us and the forces that shape our existence. Yet the atmosphere of the music feels alienated, urban, and blurred. So, a question arises: what does “home” even mean when our identity and perception of reality are increasingly shaped by systems beyond our control?
The first thing that caught my attention after several listens was the album’s opening track, “Petty Pleas”, which feels noticeably different from the atmosphere that gradually comes to define “Messuage”. Rather than immediately immersing the listener in its melancholic and introspective world, the album begins with an unexpected burst of energy, creating a striking contrast with what is yet to unfold. But to me, the album’s central atmosphere truly begins to emerge with “Overdetermined”, flowing like a river through much of what follows. Although “Sidon” once again surprises the listener with another energy shift, especially near the end of the track, it never moves too far from the album’s overall atmosphere.
“Fragile”, the shortest track on the album, creates the impression of wandering through a forest, guided by a distant sound calling from somewhere beyond sight. The delicate vocal presence perfectly reflects the meaning behind its title, carrying a sense of vulnerability that makes the track remarkably affecting despite its brief duration. “Sublimate”, one of my personal favorites, introduces a noticeable shift in the vocal approach and moves the album closer to the emotional weight and heaviness of doom metal—a sensibility that can also be felt in “Sidon”. This darker character continues into “Stay”, allowing these compositions to form a more emotional and melancholic passage within the album.
As the album approaches its conclusion, “Compulsion” seems to bring its underlying themes to the surface. Here, the title can be interpreted as the external forces that drive individuals toward actions and identities that may not entirely belong to them. A sense of exhaustion can be felt in the vocal line, perhaps embodying the frustration from these pressures.
The final track, “Empty Cages”, carries a deeply emotional soundscape, evoking the feeling of reaching the end of a chaotic day and finally returning to the safety and comfort of home. At the same time, the title suggests freedom and release, as if the forces that once confined and shaped us have finally lost their dominance. In this sense, the track brings the album full circle: after wandering through alienation, external pressures, and questions of identity, we finally find a place to settle—but perhaps with a different understanding of what “home” truly means. 9.5/10
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9.5/10 Epic Storm
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