GO SOUTH OF NORMA JEAN’S MERIDIAN

Even if I don’t necessarily agree with Gary Suarez’s assessment that Norma Jean’s latest, Meridional, is, like, the best thing ever, I do think it’s easily the best record they’ve made since O God, The Aftermath. It seems like a solid codification of the old, crazy-ass Bless the Martyr Norma Jean that I loved and the newer, Ross Robinson’d Redeemer Norma Jean, with whom I am considerably less smitten. And it’s entirely possible that I’m doing that thing where I complain about something heavy not being heavy enough — Gary thinks I just need to “PLAY IT LOUDER” and I’ll understand the full brilliance of this record. So who knows.

But now the band is streaming the full record in advance of its July 13 (a.k.a. “tomorrow”) release date via Razor & Tie. So you can just check it out and decide for yourself. I’m particularly fond of the song “Blood Burner” myself.

Once you’ve listened to it, engage in pointless arguing over its quality in the comments section below. I’m curious to know how other Bless the Martyr fans think it stacks up.

-AR