If you pierce the skin and pull back the layers, you inch closer to your essence. Norma Jean invite this level of intimately incisive immersion. An avalanche of jagged sonic hues, off-kilter samples, grunge-drenched guitars, noise rock exorcisms, hardcore screams, and slashed-throat poetry encode the essence of the Georgia band on their ninth full-length offering, Deathrattle Sing For Me [Solid State].

The group—Cory Brandan [vocals], Grayson Stewart [lead guitar], Clay Crenshaw [guitar], Matt Marquez [drums], Michael Palmquist [bass], and Matthew Putman [drums, percussion, songwriting]—plunge into unparalleled emotional depths, as if their very existence depended upon the catharsis these 13 tracks promised…

“This record was really about banding together,” observes Cory. “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.”

Norma Jean have always inhabited such intense cavities of emotion. The band unearthed a searing signature style on O’ God, the Aftermath in 2005. They struck up a creative partnership with iconic producer Ross Robinson on the seminal Redeemer [2007] and The Anti Mother [2008]. The latter notably boasted appearances by Chino Moreno of Deftones and Page Hamilton of Helmet. Following the acclaimed Meridional [2010], Wrongdoers [2013] represented a critical high watermark with a 9-out-of-10 score from Rock Sound and a 9-out-of-10 score from Outburn. On the heels of Polar Similar [2016], they reached another level on All Hail [2019]. In a perfect 5-star review, New Noise Magazine raved, “All Hail is yet another momentous accomplishment on their part,” and Kerrang! attested, “All Hail’s ambition and execution is worthy of worship.” Along the way, they toured with everyone from Rob Zombie and Korn to Mastodon and Lamb of God, to name a few.

During 2021, they recorded what would become Deathrattle Sing For Me with longtime collaborator Jeremy SH Griffith in Tampa and Fort Walton Beach, FL in addition to sessions helmed by Matthew in Fort Smith, AR. They nodded to inspirations as diverse as Alice In Chains’ Dirt, The Smashing Pumpkins’ Siamese Dream, and the sample-and-riff onslaught of White Zombie’s La Sexorcisto: Devil Music Volume 1.