Norma Jean Releases Deathrattle Sing For Me

Norma Jean released their new album Deathrattle Sing For Me on August 12th via Solid State Records. This is the bands’s fourth album since rejoining Solid State Records in 2013. After undergoing several lineup changes over the years, the current version of the band is comprised of Cory Brandan (vocals). Grayson Stewart (lead guitar), Clay Crenshaw (guitar/bass), Matt Marquez (drums), and Michael Palmquist (guitar/bass).

Deathrattle Sing For Me was recorded in 2021 in Tampa, Fl and Fort Walton Beach, Fl with longtime collaborator Jeremy SH Griffith. The band drew inspiration by classic albums such as Alice In Chains’ Dirt, The Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream, and White Zombie’s La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume. This is one of the bands more complex works which involved the integration of over 200 tracks with vocals, guitars, strings, and samples on select cuts.

Front man Cory Brandan says “This record was really about banding together. It embodies the camaraderie of our brotherhood in Norma Jean. At the time, we needed something to do, and we wrote these songs for our own souls. The record was necessary to keep me alive in a very literal sense. It’s a deeper place.”

“1994” opens the album. It’s a dark song that takes the band back to their days in the nineties. Brandon reveals “It’s an image of the scene we grew up in. We performed at these tiny venues during the early-to-mid nineties. These were abandoned houses where the power was still on, so we’d jump in and play. It’s an old school throwback remembrance.”

“Spearmint Revolt” was conceived by Grayson Stewart. “I see it as acceptance,” Brandon says. “The title may sound like something horrible, but it has a beautiful tone. You get to the level of grief where you just accept everything as it is and let go. Grayson wrote the lyric, and I thought it was great.”

“Call For The Blood” was the album’s lead single. “It’s one of the more strange songs we’ve ever written, and we liked the idea of everyone hearing ‘Call For The Blood’ first,” Brandon reflects. “This isn’t what you’d normally expect from us. Matthew named the song, and my brother and I knew what he was talking about. We’re brothers. We’re blood. When things go down, your friends or brothers come to the rescue and pull you out of the bloody wreck.”

The album concludes with “Heartache”. “It has one of my favorite lines, ‘This world was never meant for me or I was never meant for it’,” reveals Brandon. “We thought Heartache sounded like it would be a great conclusion for the record very early in the writing process. But by the time we got to tracking, we tracked another song to come after it in an effort to avoid it as a closer, as it seemed too obvious to us by then. But, in a way, we felt like Heartache fought all of us to conclude the album, won, and the new song was ultimately B-sided.”

Deathrattle Sing For Me is a solid hardcore album. The band says ““When you listen to this, I hope you let it simmer,” he leaves off. “There’s a nineties vibe when you look at the artwork, read the lyrics, and listen to it. Spend some time with it and maybe you’ll find something. Do whatever you want with it. I hope you escape with it—then let us know what you think in a year.”

Deathrattle Sing For Me Track Listing:

1994
Call For The Blood
Spearmint Revolt
Memorial Hoard
Aria Obscura
Any%
Parallella
W W A V V E
A Killing Word
Penny Margs
el-roi
Sleep Explosion
Heartache

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Post by Scott Raymer (Website | Instagram | Facebook)

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