Norma Jean

Redeemer (2006)

Dan Perrone

Had enough of metalcore yet? Tired of bands trying to reinvent the same
old breakdown using only one note? Surprised that Cookie Monster himself
has not taken the reigns of a generic hardcore band by offering up his
super heavy mosh-tastic growl? Well, Norma Jean is sick of you too! And
they're making you aware of this by releasing another album,
Redeemer, chock full of more-of-the-same, mediocre heavy music that
will be eaten up by sixteen-year-old boys and girls alike proclaiming them
as "OMG the heaviest band I've ever heard!!!!"

At first listen, one may assume that Norma Jean actually made an attempt
at changing up their sound a little bit, as vocalist Cory Brandan decided
to give the Cookie Monster scream a rest and execute more of a yell, which
allows him to use some harmony as well. However, behind him are the same
redundant, chunky breakdowns that have been recycled two albums over, damn
near stolen from We Are the Romans, the last full-length from
metalcore pioneers Botch. This goes on for forty-two minutes. Actually,
that may not be entirely fair, as "Blue Prints for Future Homes," "A Small
Spark vs. A Great Forest" (nice buildup in this one), and "Cemetery Like a
Stage" all incorporate a little more melody and interesting moments than
past efforts from the band. The closer, "No Passenger: No Parasite"
actually takes things a bit too far, with the line "wake up"
repeated for five minutes preceding a wholly underwhelming climax. Still,
when sandwiched between irritating and obnoxious rhythms that pound you
into submission for all the whole reasons (think "Wow, I would give
anything to make it stop" as opposed to "Man, this is so heavy and
awesome, it's like I'm being pounded into submission!"), their impact is
subdued and minimal. The vocals are definitely improved, but they only
take Norma Jean so far.

Let's face it: Norma Jean has never been a very good band. From the very
beginning, they've rehashed and abused what once made metalcore great: the
brutality. They're still very one-dimensional (even with the updates to
their sound, though they are welcome), and the music is so focused on the
breakdown that it's sickening. Even the lyrics are pretentious,
holier-than-thou, and sometimes try too hard to be badass ("Break out
the shotguns / We're going to town!"). The star and a half seems
terribly generous considering the review, but this is the first Norma Jean
album that has songs that don't make me want to go ballistic. At least
they aren't still combining two random words to make one uber-scene word.