NORMA JEAN RE-BLESS THE MARTYR ON TOUR
Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 4:30pm by Gary SuarezOn select dates of their latest tour, Norma Jean have been playing an older, popular album of theirs in its entirety. That album, of course, is 2002’s Bless The Martyr, Kiss the Child, a metalcore landmark that numerous fans still argue has yet to be matched by the group’s subsequent releases. With so many reunions and anniversaries emerging, the concept of revisiting an album live on tour is not uncommon for metal bands these days. The Melvins covered Houdini for a short multi-city tour, Boris took on Feedbacker at New York’s All Tomorrow’s Parties fest and stoner doom demigods Sleep performed Holy Mountain at the Minehead, UK ATP, throwing in some Dopesmoker to boot! Hell, even stadium-fillers like Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band are trying their hand at it.
However, what makes Norma Jean’s choice of Bless The Martyr, Kiss the Child somewhat unusual is that the current incarnation of the band is radically different from the lineup from 2002.
Original vocalist Josh Scogin (whose band The Chariot is an opening act on the current tour) quit the band shortly after that album’s release, as did bassist Joshua Doolittle. Drummer Daniel Davison departed the band in following a tour that culminated in New York City in November of 2007. So the only Norma Jean members left from the Bless The Martyr, Kiss the Child days are guitarists Chris Day and Scottie Henry. Now the band’s popularity has soared with Cory Brandan on vocals, and even though many were unsatisfied with the more accessible The Anti-Mother I happened to love it enough to include in my Best Albums of 2008 list.
So how did it sound live this past Saturday at New York’s Gramercy Theatre? Damn good, actually. Breakout single “Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste” sounded fucking fantastic, and the crowd went apeshit upon hearing it’s instantly recognizable opening riffs. Scogin even joined the band for a couple tracks (check out the video above), at one point finding himself sucked into the audience while Brandan attempted to reel him back in. The Anti-Mother opener “Vipers, Snakes, And Actors” and new track “Kill More Presidents” were the only two of the set’s tracks that didn’t come from Bless The Martyr, Kiss the Child. All in all, it was a raucous and thoroughly satisfying concert, though I’m selfishly eager to hear more from their as-yet untitled upcoming album, due on Razor & Tie in 2010.
-GS
[Gary Suarez used to hate cell phones but now he hates car accidents. He manages the consistently off-topic No Yoko No. Say, why don't you follow him on Twitter?]
Christian metal. And therefore a fail.
saying “a fail” is fucking retarded. it certainly doesn’t help your argument any.
Prejudice is an odd thing.
It is, isn’t it? Christians sure know about prejudice.
Let’s make this less intolerant.
Christianity brings half the fail.
The shitty music brings the other half.
Err, Scratch that, make it 75-25.
you’re dumb, it’s not like they’re up on stage screaming “I love god, i love jesus” they are christians in a band. only a handful of their songs actually deal with religious themes. do some homework so you don’t look like a completely prejudice piece of shit. oh yeah, i fucking hate all religion and still love norma jean. get beyond yourself. and not all christians are prejudice, dickhead. fuck man, my bestfriend is a full on christian yet his favorite band is behemoth. you sir, are a great example of what is wrong with the world of metal.
anyone who says “a fail” has no legs to stand on in an argument of musical tastes. if you talk like a retard, you listen to music like a retard.
My point was that they CLAIM Christian Metalcore. They call themselves that, and they get labeled as that all the fucking time. Honestly, why the fuck would I want to listen to a message that I can’t stand? I probably would if the music redeemed it, but like most Christian “metal” it’s just trash. Norma Jean is a bargain bin reject; they’re not even good as far as metalcore goes, which isn’t saying much.
To be totally honest, I’d rather be me, the 100% anti-Christian douchebag, than you, the hypocrite insulting someone’s intelligence when proper grammar is obviously too complicated for you to employ.
What’s wrong with the world of metal is that we let these religious fuck-tards in.
actually they detest the label of christian metalcore. they feel being labeled christian distracts from their fanbase, and they sure as fuck ain’t metalcore, i’m not getting into the subgenre argument, but fuck they are far from metalcore
That’s as dumb, if not more so, than a Christian saying they don’t listen to “secular” music because it’s not about God.
Notice the addendum there?
Nothing but a Botch ripoff. And christian, nonetheless.
awsome band
spelling awesome wrong doesn’t help either.
LOL, solid contribution
I dig this band a lot more than I probably should.
fuck that…its a great record, but its a far cry from their current bullshit
they used to be much better on bless the martyr but at least they put on a show unlike half the bands metalsucks pushes. Cough Binary CHODE cough cough
horse the band owned that show, and i love norma jean. horse is just way more fun to watch live.
I dig Norma Jean. dont care about what they believe, I dig their music..and yeah I would say that the best thing they can do is go back to their original sound, however the AnTiMother album was great.
Anti mother was horrid! If you REALLY say u like this band, it’s not even an argument. O god the aftermath is a great record and very overlooked for some reason… Guitar work is pretty sweet
O God is overlooked because its a complete Botch rip-off.
i cant ebelive i missed the stop in montreal. im a huge long time fan of these guys and i feel like an asshole just for missing the show. i woulda been the craziest fucker there.
*sigh*
i want a tshirt :(
nj are great live and bless and o god are fantastic albums…
would love to catch this show in atl…