Music brings bone-chilling metal

Georgian metalcore core band Norma Jean has been blasting people’s minds since 1997, and earlier this month the band released the album Deathrattle Sing For Me. On each track, the guitar playing from Grayson Stweart, Clay Crenshaw and Michael Palmquist give a heavy dose of righteous riffs. Matt Marquez’s drum playing keeps things together with solid beats and Cory Brandan’s vocal performance fills the air with great authority. Deathrattle Sing For Me is a classic example of how metalcore still exists in today’s music scene. 

The killer track, “Call For The Blood” is a wild tune that displays how artistic the band is, and the best part is Brandan’s singing. There is nothing more thrilling than hearing a vocalist shouting and screaming out the lyrics in pure hatred. Brandan has an amazing authoritative voice on “Call For The Blood” because listeners will be able to feel the sheer anger Brandan has toward people who live in our society.

“Aria Obscura” is a harmonic tune that has well-written lyrics. “I’ll read the lines between/I’ll write the lines between/Can you see them?/Look, I’m not perfect/I’ll change with the new wave, I’ll adjust to everything/Everything and everything/But anything I know” mention how some people are willing to change their lives regardless of where they have come from. In many ways “Aria Obscura” is about the willingness to change despite knowing how far you have come in life.

“Parallella” is a short but sweet composition that has classic drum playing from Marquez. Although the drum beats are rhythmically slower, the noise coming from each drum beat captures what it feels like to be in a world that is constantly filled with endless darkness. There are other tracks Marquez shines brightly on but “Parallella” shows how simple drum beats can capture how serious the theme is.

Classic “A Killing Word” has vein-jolting bass guitar playing from Crenshaw and Palmquist. In the beginning, the acoustic guitar can be heard but soon after the face-smacking feeling of vein-jolting bass guitar riffs welcomes listeners to the band’s insane world. The absolute best part is feeling the vibrations blaring from the speakers and the top-notch notes give the idea of how dominant Norma Jean is with their music. “A Killing Word” is perhaps the band’s signature song by how well Crenshaw and Palmquist are playing their bass guitars.

The closing tune “Heartache” is an emotional piece that has epic guitar playing from Stewart. Although some parts do have soft instrumentation, Stewart’s talent shines through the loud madness with epic riffs that are capable of blowing the minds of those who are listening. “Heartache” ends things with a bang thanks to Stewart’s skills of performing skull crush guitar vibes.

Norma Jean has made a great album, and each track has endless metal mayhem that will have people appreciate how the band sticks to their metalcore values.