Wrongdoers

In Wrongdoers Norma Jean have created what is easily their finest record.The 11 track album combines the brutality, emotion and energy of such songs as Face/Face or The Anthem of the Angry Brides from previous NJ releases with the musicality and more melodic/'traditional' song structures reminiscent of songs from Redeemer, The Anti-Mother or Meridional.While seeing a comparison to the 'Anti-Mother' can sometimes be frightening to longtime Norma fans, I can reasure you that although Wrongdoers can sometimes feel familiar to that album it is probably most similar to Meridional (or possibly even Redeemer at times). Having said that, this isn't simply a rehash of their previous outing. In keeping with the tradition of the band, Wrongdoers continues the trend of being completely different from the quintets previous release, while remaining distinctly 'Norma.'Naturally there will always be stand-out tracks on an album (for me these are 'If you got it at five...', 'Neck in the Hemp', 'Sword in Mouth, Fire eyes' and 'Sun Dies, Blood Moon') but unlike a lot of releases, both new and old, Wrongdoers has no 'filler'. None. From start to finish you will be hooked. From the southern chaos feel of the single 'If you got it at five, you got it at fifty' to the brutal breakdown in 'Neck in the Hemp' and the 'epicness' of 'Sun Dies..' which is similar to previous NJ songs; 'Falling from the Sky: Day Seven' and 'Disconnecktie', the album ebbs and flows between beauty and brutality perfectly, never letting up in quality. This is NJ's greatest achievement with Wrongdoers in fact, it feels and flows perfectly as an album rather than just a collection of songs from the same band.While some will wish for NJ to return to their roots and recreate Bless the Martyr, Kiss the Child, that album has had its time, Norma have done that sound and I feel it's time to let them move on (as long as they don't make another Anti-Mother, even though I quite like it). And to be honest, if they didn't keep 'evolving' and tweaking their sound, fans would complain of each record being a rehash of their last.Simply put, this is the best album Norma have ever released (though admittedley it only slightly beats BTMKTC or OGTA in my opinion). An instant classic!The only downside (and admitedly a tiny one) is the near 5 minutes of noise at the end of the final track. I will never understand why bands do this. Really annoys me.

A great purchase as always, my husband is a huge Norma Jean fan. He was thrilled to receive this, the songs are as good as ever of course. Very happy husband