 | Tracklist:
1. “Leaderless and Self Enlisted”
2. “The Anthem of the Angry Brides”
3. “Deathbed Atheist”
4. “Bastardizer”
5. “A Media Friendly Turn for the Worse”
6. “Septentrional”
7. “Blood Burner”
8. “High Noise Low Output”
9. “Falling from the Sky: Day Seven”
10. “Everlasting Tapeworm”
11. “Occidental”
12. “The People That Surround You on a Regular Basis”
13. “Innocent Bystanders United / Oriental”
Release Date: 2010 | |
| | other reviews | Ironing (5)
Norma Jean releases their best album yet and keeps the Normachine a chuggin'... | BrodieGron (4)
Stop complaining, listen and you'll find a great album, a perfect mixture of the 3 previous efforts ... | BenjLaud (4)
Supremely unique, if flawed, mathcore.... | jitteryzeitgeist (3.5)
Meri...merd...din...dinnal.... Norma Jeans newest is a pretty good ragtag metalcore romp for the mel... | fromtheinside (3)
The band does try branching out every now and again, but the downside is the moments are too few and... | stillexist (3)
Might be time for the band to hang it up and go live the dreaded "normal" life... |
On 50 Lists
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| Summary: Not quite the 'return to roots' promised in the lead-up to the record's release, but rather a messy mishmash of the different directions the band has taken throughout their career. |
Meridional, album number five from Georgia's Norma Jean is not quite the 'return to roots' promised in the lead-up to the record's release, but rather a messy mishmash of the different directions the band has taken throughout their career. Throughout its 67 minute playing time, we hear technical mathcore reminiscent of O God, the Aftermath ("Leaderless and Self-Enlisted"), melodic tunes complete with vocal harmonies reminiscent of Redeemer and The Anti-Mother (most of the second half) and dissonant, ball-busting breakdowns ala the group's first album ("Bastardizer").
Certainly, Norma Jean have gone in a lot of different directions throughout their career and most of them have divided followers of the group's work. Those who liked the brutal simplicity of Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child were turned off by the Botch-style technicality and absence of breakdowns in the second album. Those who liked the second album were turned off by the simple and melodic structures of Redeemer and The Anti-Mother. What we get with Meridional, then, is a band trying to play it safe and please all parties while throwing in a few new tricks, and to some degree it works. Fans of the more technical sound, for example, will find a lot to like about the album's first few tracks, especially "The Anthem of the Angry Brides", a blatant but tasteful rip-off of latter day Dillinger Escape Plan. The ambient interludes throughout ("Septentrional", "Occidental", "Oriental" (a hidden track at the end)) are a nice touch, as is the presence of instruments like acoustic guitar ("High Noise, Low Output"), synthesiser ("Falling From the Sky: Day Seven") and even piano ("Innocent Bystanders United"). Ultimately though, these embellishments do little more than provide a cosmetic enhancement for a bunch of ideas that are not particularly new.
Ultimately, it's hard to imagine fans of any era Norma Jean outright hating Meridional, but it's also difficult to imagine anyone being overly impressed either. For sure, Meridional has a bunch of good moments, but chances are if you've heard any other Norma Jean album, you've already heard what it has to offer done better.
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Album Rating: 3
nice soundoff
The other review that was featured was quite good and goes into more depth. I would have written more but ultimately this was all I really wanted to say.
Digging: Quiet Steps - Secular Digging: Quiet Steps - Secular | | | Album Rating: 4
Certainly, Norma Jean's have gone in a lot of different directions
Norma Jean* maybe? Otherwise, good review. I need to check this out
Digging: The Weeknd - Echoes of Silence | | |
Am I the only one who thinks this is a return to their roots? There's a large amount of Redeemer in this and some mish-mash of their first two records, too.
| | | Album Rating: 3 | Sound Off
glad to see we agree. though concise its an excellent write up.
Digging: The Weeknd - House of Balloons Digging: The Weeknd - House of Balloons | | |
does that cover art depict Hannibal falling off one of his Carthaginian elephants?
| | | Album Rating: 3
this band lost me after oh god, the aftermath. this dude just cant sing. seriously.
Digging: The Dear Hunter - The Color Spectrum (Complete Collection) Digging: The Dear Hunter - The Color Spectrum (Complete Collection) | | |
What's the album to try out Norma Jean?
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Album entitled "Bastardizer"...
Isn't that Knut?
Digging: Soul Cycle - Soul Cycle II Digging: Soul Cycle - Soul Cycle II | | | Album Rating: 3 | Sound Off
he's referring to their first album resembling that track. not naming their first album Bastardizer.
@Jesus: Redeemer would probably be the easiest to get into NJ if you're not familiar with their style.
| | | Album Rating: 2.5
Sorry, I see now.
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What's the album to try out Norma Jean?
If you like The Chariot than you should check out their first, "Bless The Martyr". If you like Botch then you should try "Redeemer". If you havent heard either of those two bands just get Redeemer.
Digging: mewithoutYou - Ten Stories Digging: mewithoutYou - Ten Stories
| | | Album Rating: 3 | Sound Off
if you like Botch you want to get O' God.
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I honestly feel like Norma Jean are the AFI of metalcore. They have always been a solid band with decent releases, a
couple of them actually being gems in my eyes, and one of them being pretty disappointing.
I love AFI's Decemberunderground, but I felt like The Anti-Mother was sorta Norma Jean's Decemberunderground - a
departure from their regular sound where they experimented and shed most of their roots. I completely hated The Anti
Mother in the same way many original AFI fans despised DU. That being said, Meridional is kind of like Crash Love.
They're both ultimately different from what fans of those bands would have expected them to create, but they're solid
records nonetheless. Crash Love and Meridional are not groundbreaking records for either band, but they are at least
definably good.
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What in fuck's name is up with the formatting of that post....
| | | Album Rating: 3 | Sound Off
didn't you give a 4.5 to the Anti Mother?
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Nope. I took over my brother's account. I'm considering editing a couple of his reviews, but...eh
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kinda surprised at how not terrible this is
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I don't mind it.
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still haven't listened to this, still don't know if I want to
| | | Album Rating: 4
so basically this is like a best of Marilyn Monroe?
Digging: Small Black - New Chain Digging: Small Black - New Chain | | | |
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