Norma Jean - Vs The Anti-Mother

Norma Jean - Vs The Anti-Mother

Vs The Anti-Mother is the 4th full length album from Norma Jean coming 2 years after the untouchable Redeemer. It's a departure from their earlier work, a lot of different styles have been used making a very diverse album. The only track really reminiscent of their older mathcore style is the song 'Birth of the Anti Mother' which is one of the fastest and hardest songs they've done. The rest of the album ranges from sludge metal to more melodic ballads. Over all it's a lot slower paced then previous works, but at the same time it features some of their heaviest songs.

The album also saw the contributions of many other artists. Particularly the track 'Surrender your sons' co-written by Chino Moreno of the Deftons rises above, it's one of the best tracks on this album, and one of my favorite Norma Jean tracks, even though, and perhaps because of how different it is from anything they've ever done. It's a haunting guitar track, it's haunting vocals, it's heavy, it's dynamic. Chino and Cory's voice work perfectly together. The lyrics are some of the best Norma Jean has ever written. 

Vs The Anti-Mother is a polarizing album. It's so different from anything they've ever done, it's so diverse in style. Many fans will surely be put off by it's unwillingness to sound the same as previous albums. Since it's so different it does have some high points but also some low points. Taken as a whole it's a good album, it's always positive when a band branches out and is willing to take chances. It's commendable that they've diversified themselves so much and only good things can come of this for their next albums.