The Almighty Norma Jean returns with their new album Meridional. This album is important for a few reasons, a major one being it’s their first album to not bear the Solid State Records logo, a logo that has graced every album they have made until now. It’s also important because this is a band that has always been popular in the “mainstream” market while their label continued to market them to primarily Christian fans so it’ll be cool to see if they go over the top now that they have shed the illusory tags. Finally, Meridional is the album that everything has been leading up to. This is Norma Jean’s finest hour.
Meridional (meaning “situated in the South” according to Merriam-Webster) is a monster of an album that’s as dynamic as they come. It opens with the duo of heavy and fast-paced ball busters “Leaderless and Self Enlisted” and “The Anthem of the Angry Brides.” The songs, together with “Blood Burner” and “Bastardizer,” are as pointed as they are heavy, proving Norma Jean more than capable of flying in a singular direction while hurling fists. It’s the more dynamic songs here that really make you stop in your tracks, such as the very straightforward and wildly melodic “A Media Friendly Turn For the Worse” (which cleverly offers that “blood is thicker than water” while questioning which one you drank) and my personal favorite “The People That Surround You On a Regular Basis” which features such an intense performance it’s easy to imagine them collapsing, completely spent, after recording it.
What began on O’God The Aftermath and refined itself throughout Redeemer and The Anti-Mother comes to full fruition on the intensely passionate and directed Meridional. The album is available in a number of “exclusive” versions which are available at Best Buy, iTunes, Napster, Hot Topic, Shockhound, and Newbury Comics. Each has it’s own set of bonus tracks, with the latter also offering autographed copies (limited to two hundred).
I have followed this band since their first EP and there is no question that they are at their very best here. Meridional is not a serious contender for album of the year…it IS the album of the year.
Reviewed by Mark Fisher
