Norma Jean "O God, The Aftermath."

Brendan · #1 04-07-2005, 12:14 PM

Sucks. Hard.

I dug about half the stuff on the first album, and decided to give this one a go. They're a kick in the ass live (litterally, a bunch of people were push moshing), and aren't, strike that, weren't too bad for being metalcore/hardcore.

Gave this one a spin...and man, I was let down something feirce. Nothing unique about them anymore, just the same as every band signed to Tooth and Nail. It's so bland, so...meh, I'm sure it's going to go big.

Avoid.

43% burnt · #2 04-07-2005, 12:21 PM

I tried, and couldn't get into them at all. I found their stuff to be very boring. It's heavy, but thats about all. IMO i'm sick of bands being heavy for the sake of being heavy...if that makes any sense. Especially when bands have label support and a decent amount of popularity. It would seem they're in the perfect position to offer something new and interesting to the genre.

And they do put on a decent live show, they were tight and had alot of energy when I saw them. I just don't dig what they're doing musically.

Brendan · #3 04-07-2005, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 43% burnt

I tried, and couldn't get into them at all. I found their stuff to be very boring. It's heavy, but thats about all. IMO i'm sick of bands being heavy for the sake of being heavy...if that makes any sense. Especially when bands have label support and a decent amount of popularity. It would seem they're in the perfect position to offer something new and interesting to the genre.

And they do put on a decent live show, they were tight and had alot of energy when I saw them. I just don't dig what they're doing musically.

Well, that's why I dig about half their stuff. Some of it's good, but a lot of it gets bogged down with, just like you said, being heavy. Like, "Creating Something Out of Nothing," it's a good song, if it were about half as long; it meanders. They sort of meander. If all of their songs were in the style of grind (like, 3 minutes tops. 1.5 on average), I think it'd go a long way, but they stretch too little over too far.

Chris J · #4 04-08-2005, 04:36 PM

I saw them once and I gotta say they were the worst act of the night. Not to say they sucked but I was not impressed at all. Scars of Tomorrow, Unearth, and Atreyu were the other bands and I think Unearth put on the best show. Atreyu was a close second though.

**Josh Ryan** · #5 04-08-2005, 09:25 PM

I don't like them. For a moment I had them confused with another band, and thought, "Wow, they got much worse". To my great relief though, they are not who I originally thought they were.

Rien · #6 04-10-2005, 02:05 AM

You may want to check out The Chariot. Josh, the old singer of Norma Jean, started them after he quit.

They're more to the point, and one of the best new bands in the Genre. If you like the shorter, thrashier stuff off of the first album, you might like them.

xshawnxearthx · #7 04-10-2005, 11:17 AM

see the problem with bands like norma jean and atreyu and what not, is that they took a style of music that was awesome (metalcore) and made in generic by adding emoish parts to it.

you wanna go hear some really awesome metal core?

for the love of(feasting on the will of humanity)
disembodied
converge(petitioning the empty sky)
cave in(until your heart stops)
shai hulud(heart soley nurished)

**Josh Ryan** · #8 04-10-2005, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xshawnxearthx

see the problem with bands like norma jean and atreyu and what not, is that they took a style of music that was awesome (metalcore) and made in generic by adding emoish parts to it.

you wanna go hear some really awesome metal core?

for the love of(feasting on the will of humanity)
disembodied
converge(petitioning the empty sky)
cave in(until your heart stops)
shai hulud(heart soley nurished)

Agreed. I have to check out the top two.

Brendan · #9 04-10-2005, 11:58 AM

I'm not a big fan of metalcore.

Of course, I still check out a lot of bands. My standing principle is that if it's not power metal or Throwdown (the band), I'll check it out.

xshawnxearthx · #10 04-10-2005, 12:35 PM

for the love of, is so good its retarded. they were a local band from nj that put out a few records then just went their seperate ways. yet, they had such an awesome live show(that involved gongs, dark venues, anvils and hammers, and a lot of heavy breakdowns).

you should be able to find them on myspace, or cop a cd at revhq.com or ferret records, or verydistro.com

Zirc · #11 04-10-2005, 12:44 PM

Definitely does not compare to old Norma Jean. Did the singer write the music? New album sounds like Norma Jean meets ETID, but definitely nowhere as good as ETID. I miss old Norma Jean

And a big LOL @ Throwdown.

Brendan · #12 04-10-2005, 12:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zirc

And a big LOL @ Throwdown.

Saw them live (unfortunately) for Children of Bodom, Fear Factory, and Lamb of God...they couldn't get off the stage fast enough, it was unreal. Everyone in the house was just standing there, staring at them. "You ready for a heavy one, Portland?" *same heaviness as last song* The biggest cheers they got was for playing Roots Bloody Roots, and when they left. That had to hurt, getting a bigger chear for stopping than for playing.

Zirc · #13 04-10-2005, 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brendan

Saw them live (unfortunately) for Children of Bodom, Fear Factory, and Lamb of God...they couldn't get off the stage fast enough, it was unreal. Everyone in the house was just standing there, staring at them. "You ready for a heavy one, Portland?" *same heaviness as last song* The biggest cheers they got was for playing Roots Bloody Roots, and when they left. That had to hurt, getting a bigger chear for stopping than for playing.

Kind of sad, feel kinda bad for them. I wonder if they've broken up yet?

fozzy · #14 04-10-2005, 02:06 PM

The new Norma Jean record reminds me Botch, a lot. Old NJ was way better, but i still like it, no matter what you people say

xshawnxearthx · #15 04-10-2005, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zirc

Kind of sad, feel kinda bad for them. I wonder if they've broken up yet?

i never really got into them, but i know they took over the hc/metal core scene pretty quick and had a decent metalcore sound, then they put out a record that sounded like mall metal. and the metal kids never embraced it. which is good cause im not a bitg fan of throwdown either.

jrthebassguy · #16 04-10-2005, 03:04 PM

I liked it more than the last album. Their last album was just recorded noise. The new vocalist is much better too, imo.

Lyrically, this album is MUCH better, even if the music is so-so.

protoz · #17 04-10-2005, 03:39 PM

I just find Throwdown to be funny, they did a cover of Baby Got Back that I used to blast on hot summer days. Other than that their stuff was just not very good...

And just from the commercial I saw for the new NJ disc I thought it was going to be pretty bad. A lot of people like the old cd around here but I never got into them.

Rien · #18 04-10-2005, 03:47 PM

I like both Norma Jean albums quite a bit, though they are quite different. I think Corey(the new singer) has brought something different to the music and taken it in a new direction.

I do like bless the martyr more, but that is just a different band almost, so it is hard to compare.

Still, if you do like their older stuff, you should check out The Chariot. They're probably my fav. band out right now, and have a great live show (Josh is just an awesome frontman).

ole Jason · #19 04-10-2005, 06:01 PM

I played with that band once a few years ago. They were the only touring act on the bill and by far the worst band there. One of the sloppiest "signed" groups I've ever seen.

Let's not forget that they were doing the whole nu-metal thing there for awhile.

Seems like there have been more than a few T&N bands change their tune to whatever happens to be getting popular.

Brendan · #20 04-10-2005, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ole Jason

I played with that band once a few years ago. They were the only touring act on the bill and by far the worst band there. One of the sloppiest "signed" groups I've ever seen.

A friend of mine, who is a huge fan, sent me this video of them doing "Memphis" at, Hellfest 2002? I think, something like that. It was the single least accurate rendition of a previously recorded song I've heard. it's like, a 5 minute song, I think the singer had the mic for all of a minute of the song, and in the one part he let the kids scream into the mic, the kid in the crowd sounded better.

When I saw them live, they had their new vocalist, and were pretty tight. But, man, if they regularly gave shows like in the vid I saw...I'm not sure how they got signed.