A far cry from how I spent my Friday night, just a couple evenings later I found myself watching long-running hardcore/metal act Norma Jean performing songs from their 20+ year career. The band itself has seen multiple iterations - something I think is fairly strongly evidenced in the way each album tends to sound not necessarily dissimilar from one to the next, but certainly not the same, either - with this particular iteration coming to town off the release of the band’s latest, Deathrattle Sing for Me.
Cincinnati metal outfit Hostile Vision was tapped to open the two-band tour - Darkest Hour acting as direct support for Norma Jean on this run - and put in a solid 25 minutes on the stage. Gnarly drums, guttural vocals, big bass, and really solid guitar work made this a good set for the band to introduce themselves to a new crowd with. I’ll be watching for their name to start showing up a bit more at some of the heavier shows coming through town, for sure.
Darkest Hour took the stage about 25 minutes later, then moved through a 40-minute set of riffs, breakdowns, some quiet moments, and a good amount of movement from the crowd. This was the first time I’d caught them live, somehow, even with their almost 30 years as a band and likely having toured with other bands I was into. It was a strong performance, and even though I’m not familiar with most of their catalog, I could tell it was a solidly mixed set that leaned a little more on the new, but definitely gave longtime fans a lot to be happy about.
I was genuinely curious about what a 2024 Norma Jean set would look and sound like. I’ve been an on-again-off-again fan since their 2006 ripper Redeemer dropped during my tenure at Hot Topic. I’d just really started getting back into heavier music after spending a good amount of time with emo and indie, and let me tell you, that album left me in tatters for a while. For me, there are some really good records that came after, but none really hit with the same ferocity as that one until 2019’s All Hail, which is probably my favorite Norma Jean album to date. It wouldn’t be until about halfway through the set that we’d get a track from that album, but the fact that they started with “A Grand Scene for a Color Film” from Redeemer had me stoked on their set from the jump.
As with all hardcore/metal shows, there are a few things you have to accept if you’re going to enjoy yourself. One, it’s going to be loud as hell. Two, you can choose to be an active participant or you can stand in the back and take things in from a distance. How you choose to handle point two will likely impact your overall experience. Me? I’m a stand in the back and take it all in (and not take swinging limbs to the body) kinda guy these days (if we’re being honest that’s always been my move at more aggressive shows). But it was genuinely enjoyable watching everyone else getting into things in their own way - dancing in front of the stage, shouting along throughout Madison Theater, fists or metal signs thrown in the air. Norma Jean’s been around a long time by most standards, and for a hardcore band, longer than most.
This particular configuration of the band puts on a hell of a show, so if they’re coming through and you’ve not seen them in a while, or, if you’re like me, you’ve somehow managed to not see them at all, now’s as good a time as ever. I don’t know if they’ve ever had a proper hit, but they’re definitely playing some fan favorites while mixing in a few for them (“Reaction,” from Polar Similar comes to mind). Just make sure you know whether you’re getting into the pit or hanging out in the back. You know where you’ll find me.
Be sure to check out photos from the show courtesy of Jacob Klein, too, to check out his stuff and see some wicked fun lighting setups. We have the whole night covered for you.
