For over two decades and several lineup changes, Norma Jean have remained stalwarts in delivering dirty-as-hell, relentless metalcore. On October 25th they’re releasing their highly anticipated eighth album, All Hail, via Solid State Records. We’ve already gotten a pretty good taste of the chaos and rage to come from their previous single “Mind Over Mind,” and now they’ve returned with another gnarly-as-hell new song, “Safety Last.”
Right out of the gate the track is super noisy and filled with static chaos, getting off to a false start that mixes together quick riffage and angry vocals from longtime singer Cory Brandan. His voice is really on point throughout the track, showing off the more melodic end of his range while still not shying away from digging deep into harsh vocals for the song’s thrashier parts. The chorus features a refrain of him yelling “Pray for us” in a different intonation with each time he goes. Instrumentally, the band reaches out into new sounds that approach the boundaries of noise rock. There’s a kind of aggressive bedlam close to what the band was doing at the beginning of the millennium, but they recontextualize the “skronky” chaos into quick moments that don’t hang around too long before hitting you with a new riff. Things twist and turn into a cathartic breakdown, before “Safety Last”’s furious finale.
Listen below, pre-order All Hail here, and catch the band on tour this fall as direct support for The Devil Wears Prada, alongside Gideon (see dates below).
10/19 — St Louis, MO — Ready Room=
10/20 — Lawrence, KS — Granada Theater
10/22 — Denver, CO — Summit Music Hall
10/23 — Salt Lake City, UT — The Complex
10/24 — Las Vegas, NV — Vinyl
10/25 — Santa Cruz, CA — The Catalyst
10/26 — Fresno, CA — Strummer’s
10/27 — Pomona, CA — Glass House
10/28 — Phoenix, AZ — Marquee
10/30 — Dallas, TX — GMBG
10/31 — Houston, TX — White Oak Music Hall
11/2 — Tampa, FL — Orpheum
11/3 — Atlanta, GA — Masquerade
11/5 — Nashville, TN — Exit/In
11/6 — Greensboro, NC — Blind Tiger
11/7 — Baltimore, MD — Sound Stage
11/8 — Pittsburgh, PA — Mr. Smalls
11/9 — Toledo, OH — Civic Music Hall
11/10 — Syracuse, NY — Westport Theater
11/12 — Philadelphia, PA — TLA
11/13 — New York, NY — Grammercy Theatre
11/15 — Chicago, IL — Bottom Lounge
11/16 — Milwaukee, WI — The Rave
