Norma Jean have parted ways with guitarist Jeff Hickey.
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Norma Jean have announced a headline tour dates with Razor & Tie label mates Vanna and other openers KEN Mode, and Exotic Animal Petting Zoo. The tour kicks off on November 15th in Oklahoma City, OK and wraps up on December 12st in Harrisonburg, VA. Full list of dates below.
Norma Jean Tour Dates
With Vanna, KEN Mode, And Exotic Animal Petting Zoo
November 15 - Oklahoma City, OK - The Conservatory
November 17 - Albuquerque, NM - Launchpad
November 18 - Mesa, AZ – The Underground
November 19 - Anaheim, CA - Chain Reaction
November 20 - West Hollywood, CA - The Whisky
November 21 - San Francisco, CA - DNA Lounge
November 23 - Sacramento, CA – Assembly Concerts
November 26 - Denver, CO - Marquis Theatre
November29 - Burnsville, MN - The Garage
November 30 - Steger, IL - Another Hole In The Wall
December 3 - Cleveland, OH - Peabody’s
December 4 - Louisville, KY - Vernon Club
December 5 - Detroit, MI - Modern Skatepark
December 6 - Pittsburgh, PA - Altar Bar
December 7 - Allentown, PA - Crocodile Rock
December 8 – Cambridge, MA – T,T. The Bear’s
December 9 - Amityville, NY - Revolution
December 10 – West Springfield, VA - Empire
December 11 - Richmond, VA - Kingdom
December 12 - Harrisonburg, VA - Blue Nile
Norma Jean announced they’ll be playing several intimate shows at the end of this month to prepare songs from the new record Wrongdoers. Dates are below
27th - Memphis, TN - Face Of Hell Fest
28th - Hattiesburg, MS - The Tavern
29th - Douglasville, GA - Seven Venue
30th - Nashville, TN - Rcktwn Flexroom
1st - Evansville, IN - The Hatch
2nd - St. Louis, MO - Fubar
3rd - Joplin, MO - Solace
4th - Tulsa, OK - Yeti
5th - TBA
6th - OFF
7th - Ft Worth, TX - Lola’s Saloon
8th - Austin, TX - Dirty Dog
9th - Houston, TX - Walter’s Downtown
10th - TBA
Brad from The New Fury joins me once again as we discuss new releases, upcoming tours, Bradley Manning, Edward Snowden and more. Past episodes can be found here. If you like the podcast, write a 5-star review for it and subscribe on iTunes.
The explosive energy of Norma Jean’s “Wrongdoers” is enough to make any person fall in love with the alternative hardcore sound that this album brings to the listener.
This album combines sounds of metalcore screaming with hard rock guitar riffs. Norma Jean shows that you can still have an influential hardcore album without the stereotypical repeated breakdown in every song. Throughout “Wrongdoer” you will hear cleans that resemble many alternative rock/metal bands like Five Finger Death Punch or even Three Days Grace. This aspect of the album shows the diversity that Norma Jean brings to the genre with their newest release.
“Wrongdoers” opens up with “Hive Minds” by starting off the album with a drum buildup leading into the main part of the song. As soon as the song kicks in, you’ll find yourself immersed in a sound consistent throughout the album. This sound lays down the groundwork for other notable tracks like “Sword In Mouth, Fire Eyes” and “Funeral Singer”. These songs represent the album well with their sporadic energy and distinctive sound. The track “Afterhour Animals” connects the following songs in a fashion that, although seen before, works better than when most bands try it.
Although there, this album falls short in few places. One of those places being notable is that some songs drag out on instrumental breaks that seem to fill more time than anything else. Way too many bands make the mistake of writing out instrumental ambiance to take up the majority of a perfectly good song. This can be heard at the end of “Sun Dies, Blood Moon”. Even though it is the closing song and possible even interesting at first, it prolongs the atmosphere of the album as well as diminishes the listener’s attention.
The most important thing to take away from this album is that it expands the boundaries of the hardcore genre. Although some songs on the album (like “Sun Dies, Blood Moon”) completely separate the sound of “Wrongdoers” from hardcore or even metalcore, the essence of the style is hardcore at heart. Norma Jean pulled off the sound of a hardcore band but with the style of something that mimics an alternative metal band. This type of album, as well as the band, is something that needs to be produced more often from bands. An album that breaks the boundaries, an album that that expands the mind of the listener, an album that can influence other bands to stray from the cookie-cutter path that is so heavily traveled.
Rating 9.5/10
-Nic
iTunes: http://bit.ly/Wrongdoers
Amazon [CD]: ;http://amzn.to/WrongdoersCD
Amazon MP3: http://amzn.to/WrongdoersMP3
Vinyl: Amazon [Vinyl]
Norma Jean toasts their new album release with a gallon of milk, or twenty. Watch the bands hilarious new music video for “If You Got It At Five, You Got it At Fifty” on Alternative Press. The video was directed by former drummer Daniel Davison (August Burns Red, The Chariot, Manchester Orchestra).
Norma Jean also celebrates the release of their new studio album, Wrongdoers (Razor & Tie) – iTunes Store. The album was recorded at Covenant Recording Studios in Kansas City with producer Josh Barber and was mixed by Jeremy Griffith. Wrongdoers is the band’s sixth full length album and their second Razor & Tie album to date. Norma Jean is currently touring on The Summer Slaughter Tour till the end of August (tour dates below).
August 7-New York, NY-Best Buy Theater
August 8-Toronto, ON-The Sound Academy”
August 9-Montreal, QC-Heavy Mtl
August 10-Albany, NY-Upstate Concert Hall
August 11-Detroit, MI-Majestic Theatre***
August 12-Chicago, IL-House of Blues
August 13-Milwaukee, WI-The Rave
August 14-St. Paul, MN-Station 4
August 16-Denver, CO-Ogden Theatre
August 17-Salt Lake City, UT-The Complex
August 19-Seattle, WA-Showbox Sodo
August 20-Portland, OR-Roseland Ballroom
*No cattle Decapitation & They Art is Murder
***No Dillinger
Norma Jean has premiered their first single “If You Got It at Five, You Got It At Fifty” from their forthcoming new studio album, Wrongdoers, on Metal Sucks
Wrongdoers will be released on August 6th through Razor & Tie. The album was recorded at Covenant Recording Studios in Kansas City with producer Josh Barber and was mixed by Jeremy Griffith. Pre-order bundles for Wrongdoers are available at MerchNow (http://normajean.merchnow.com). Bundles include t-shirts, a digipak edition of the album, a poster as well as limited edition vinyl pressed in purple, blue/grey swirl and clear. There is also an exclusive limited edition special 3.5” vinyl featuring B-sides.
Norma Jean will release their new album, Wrongdoers, on August 6th via Razor & Tie. You can find the track listing below
Track Listing
01) Hive Minds
02) If You Got It At Five, You Got It At Fifty
03) Wrongdoers
04) “The Potter Has No Hands”
05) Sword In Mouth, Fire Eyes
06) Afterhour Animals
07) The Lash Whistled Like A Singing Wind
08) Neck In The Hemp
09) Triffids
10) Funeral Singer
11) Sun Dies, Blood Moon
Atlanta’s own THE CHARIOT has debuted a brand new track titled, "In," today exclusively via Altpress.com. Click HERE to listen! “This song was originally going to be the opening track to ‘One Wing.’ It was a last minute decision to move it further in down list, and I think it was for the better.” says frontman Josh Scogin. THE CHARIOT will release "One Wing," on August 28th, 2012.
Scogin continues, “The song still has the strength of an opener but this record is a journey and for that reason alone it belongs at track 7. One Wing was designed to be heard in chronological order but having said that, I think this song does a pretty good job standing all alone as well.”
The band goes into great depth explaining their cover art with artist Trey Moseley providing his own words. Click HERE or the image to view a behind the scenes video on the making of the artwork that became, "One Wing."
In a recent interview the band was asked what their mindset was when going into the studio on "One Wing," and front man Josh Scogin commented, "Let’s get weird."