Norma Jean – Meridional

For me, the sign of a great hardcore album is one in which after the first few tracks I completely forget that I’m listening to “hardcore.”  In essence, it must hold up and speak with the same power as any “conventional” release – hooking me in continuously evolving content, asking its own questions and confidently makes its own statements.

A band that I’ve never felt that connection with before now is Georgia’s Norma Jean.  In fact, my previous encounters left a bland taste in my mouth that did very little at enticing me for more.  Not bad – just unremarkable.  But their latest release, Meridional, actually pushes the bounds of convention, and takes command of an emotional, metalcore soundscape for a journey that is actually worth staying its sixty minute run time.

Much like the images on the cover and within the booklet, Meridonal can be described as a hybridized beast.  Comprised of various aspects from a wide range of hardcore, metal, and post-punk, Norma Jeanthrows on layer after layer of strangely satisfying, discordant and chaotic, melody.  To draw a loosely related parallel (although nowhere near as radical), Meridional is to Norma Jean what Is Dead was toCrime In Stereo when they broke out of their one dimensional, hardcore shell and joined the ranks of the post-hardcore elite.

Now, Meridional doesn’t open on a particularly profound note (after the first listen it’s probably worth starting a few tracks in), but rather takes its time introducing new vectors of interest.  Both “Leaders and Self Enlisted” and “The Anthem of Angry Brides” lay down the basic brickwork that has come to define Norma Jean across their past four releases.  Demonstrating their knack for creating dissonant harmonies from crunching riffs and unconventional chord sequences, Norma Jean is quick to remind listeners why they’ve remained a relevant hardcore staple over the past few years.  But it’s around track three, “Deathbed Atheist,” that really seals the deal for me.  Here they start leaning much more on melody – and not as a crutch.  When vocalist Cory Putman belts the crucial line “This Is My Nightmare,” he enters a dark, menacing loop matched only by his group’s insidious cries.  Similarly, “Bastardizer” pulls out a meaningful breakdown when establishing a really conflicted resolution as guitars grind to a halt and Putman spits out the line “I’ve found a better way” so many times that you think he might believe this own denial ridden solution.

Instead of continuing an upward ascent, the next track enters post-hardcore territory, typically reserved for the likes of Thrice or Brand New.  On tracks like “A Media Friendly Turn For The Worse,” their clean vocals turn outwardly emotional, only returning to guttural cries when emphasizing particularly moralistic lines like “blood is thicker than water/but which did you drink?”  Their best lines come in the similar but further developed track, “Falling From The Sky: Day Seven,” which bombards the listener with pivotal statement-like questions like “your death will bring you all the answers you’ve been looking for.”  Like all good post-hardcore acts the answers always seem close, but remain just out of reach.

Meridional is the album that people will remember Norma Jean for.  It’s a solid piece of conceptual hardcore that should at least force nay-sayers (like myself) to recognize and understand why Norm Jeanhas amassed such a rabid fanbase.  I still find myself skipping a few tracks here and there, but only in anticipation for what lies ahead.  Bottom line: Meridional is a convincing starting point for newcomers, and a no brainer for returning fans.