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“LEADERS AND SELF ENLISTED” DOESN’T QUITE RESTORE THE OLD NORMA JEAN MUSIC

 Thursday, May 6th, 2010 at 2:30pm by

What I really liked about Norma Jean’s Bless the Martyr and O’God, the Aftermath was just how unpredictable the band sounded. I felt like I never knew where the songs were going; it was metalcore as written by a schizophrenic who just went off his meds. The more slickly-produced and highly structured Norma Jean of Redeemer and The Anti-Mother isn’t the same band (in some ways literally); and that might not be a problem if the music they produced kicked major ass, but, at least in my opinion, it did not. Norma Jean very quickly went from feeling kinda dangerous to feeling pretty predictable; the schizo went back on his meds, it seems.

The band has a new song now, “Leaders and Self Enlisted,” which they’re offering as a free download if you sign up for their mailing list (which is a bitch, I know). On the one hand, I like it way more than anything I’ve heard these dudes do in some time; on the other hand, I still don’t like it as much as anything from Martyr. The thinking behind it just seems so traditionalist compared to the crazy NJ of yore.

But this isn’t the same kinda-promising-sounding song as the one that appears in this teaser for the band’s new album, Meridional, so… I will continue to hold out hope.

Of course, this raises all the usual questions about “artistic development vs. changing your sound,” so… yeah, get the song here and then rage on, I guess. Meridional comes out July 13.

-AR

[via Noisecreep]

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  • Edgar

    I agree with this. I think the song is pretty good and definitely makes me eager for the album. I think a lot of the sporadicness from NJ came from Josh Scogin, which is why Bless the Martyr came out the way it did.

  • zen dudeist

    The Chariot are closer to BTMKTC than anything NJ has done since Josh left.
    Bunch of xian assholes. Real reactionaries

  • KC

    Or it could be that they saw the trendy metalcore scene coming and tried to distance themselves. Let’s face it, if Bless the Martyr came out now we would all bash it for being formulaic and resorting to using breakdowns in every song. It was revolutionary for when it came out, but now every metalcore band sounds like they did.

    I find it ironic that we criticize some bands for changing their style, yet also criticize other bands for releasing “the same album over and over again.” You can’t win as an artist in that situation. You can either change your style and alienate your current fans, or stay the same and, well, alienate your current fans because they get bored of your sound. Interesting conundrum for an artist to be in. While I may not enjoy all of their work, I do applaud NJ for going against the grain and not sounding the same on every album.

  • JB

    They are definitely not the same band anymore and will never top Bless the Martyr, that shit is un-toppable-but I pretty much dig everything they have put out (even loved Anti-Mother after a few spins and a few doobies) and I am excited for this new one

  • Mr. Sandwich

    I think “Murphy was an optimist”, from the anti-mother, is a fantastic song.

  • orbital

    Looking forward to this. Anti-Mother was realy the only album I couldn’t completely get into.

  • guey

    JESUS CHRIST!!!

  • http://www.myspace.com/somethinglikesweet CJ

    Good song.

  • kmfcm

    The Chariot are so much better

  • http://www.metalsucks.net/category/scraping-genius-off-the-wheel/ Gary Suarez

    I have heard the full album. It is all kinda of awesome. Track 2 is the one from the teaser, and it is NUTS!

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Shauna-Ranea-Roesch/588827358 Shauna Ranea Roesch

    this actually isn’t half bad. they used to be one of my favorite bands but has never been the same since Josh left…and then The Chariot was the band to turn eyes to. Bless the Martyr was the last album I really enjoyed and i got bored after that…I even saw them live with Josh…and I even remember them when they were Luti-Kriss prior to Norma Jean…*sniff, memories*