NORMA JEAN - Redeemer
January 5, 2007, 17 years ago
(EMI/Solid State)
Album number three for these metalcore pioneers finds them stretching out a bit, with good results. Things rarely get stale as they did on the band’s last, O’ God, The Aftermath; rather, a new life has been brought into the sound. It could be Ross Robinson twiddling the knobs, but something just feels way more interesting this time out. But man, the main attraction here is the album’s first track, ‘A Grand Scene For A Color Film’. Apart from the first 15 seconds sounding awesomely similar to the first 15 seconds of Helmet’s ‘In The Meantime’ (homage or accident, we’ll have to find out), the tune turns into a bruising noise rock/technical metalcore anthem, up there with Sick Of It All’s ‘Take The Night Off’ for memorable heavy anthems of the year. The manic vocals, crazy yet memorable guitar work… fuck, it’s simply a great song. The next track, ‘Blueprints For Future Homes’ shows the band’s more melodic side, with great success. Ultimately, despite a good mix of straight-ahead noise rock mayhem and impressive Botch-ish technical metalcore, the disc does begin to blur together after the halfway point, even though the band doesn’t rely on many metalcore clichés to get them through it. Instead, everything just sounds unique, from the varied vocal styles to the great guitar work, solid drumming and noisy yet musical arrangements. Definitely a leader of the scene, if they can branch out even further for their next disc, the situation would be even better.
