Norma Jean - Meridional

Norma Jean - Meridional

Their last album Vs The Anti-Mother showed off a slower more melodic side of Norma Jean. 2010's Meridional shows off a much heavier side of Norma Jean. Starting with the song 'Leaderless and self-enlisted' it hits you in the face with low tuned guitars, a never ceasing drum beat while still embodying the throw-away chords and riffs that make Norma Jean so good. 'Anthem of angry brides' is another heavy song although it plays more to the math-core side of things. While this is the most oppressively hard hitting album they've released it also does contain some ballads reminiscent of the previous album. 'Falling from the sky, day seven' is probably the first slow ballad they've ever really done. It's slower, it's more melodic in tone, but still heavy at parts.

This is also the most lyrically impressive album they've ever released. Norma Jean have always been a Christian band and it comes out in force on this album. The expressions and metaphors created in the songs are beautiful. Even if you're not religious or despise Christianity, you still have to give them credit for the images and mood the lyrics create. Particularly the songs 'Deathbed Atheist', 'Bastardizer', and the previously mentioned 'Falling from the sky, day seven' don't try to hide their religious tone.

I'm curious as to where Norma Jean goes from here. They've been pushing to a more sludge-metal sound for the last two albums now. Most of their math-core roots have been swept aside although you can still hear the influence. It seems like their next album is going to break some faces. It may not be the direction old fans want but it's commendable for a band not to stay still. 

[Extra Note]

Meridional came out right around the time The Ocean released their album Anthropocentric. While Meridional praises Christianity and questions Atheism, Anthropocentric is it's counter part. It takes an impressive deep look at Christianity and questions it's beliefs to the point of criticizing it. It's a musical journey to listen to both one after the other, it's a nice balance. I suggest this method of listening no matter what your religious beliefs are.