Christian heavy · 1995–2010
Norma Jean
Norma Jean began as Luti-Kriss near Atlanta in 1997. They went on to make Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child and earn a 2006 Grammy nod for artwork.
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Norma Jean comes from Douglasville, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta. The band formed in 1997 under another name, Luti-Kriss, with Josh Scogin on vocals, Scottie Henry and Chris Day on guitar, Josh Swofford on bass, Mick Bailey on turntables and Daniel Davison on drums.
Luti-Kriss
The early sound was aggressive nu metal. Luti-Kriss put out a split with Travail in 1999 and 5ep on Pluto Records in 2000. Swofford left and Josh Doolittle took over on bass. Bailey left while they were making the debut album, Throwing Myself, which came out in 2001 and pushed the band toward metalcore and hardcore.
Then came the new name, Norma Jean, after Marilyn Monroe's birth name, Norma Jeane. There are two stories about why, either that the band was forced to drop Luti-Kriss, much as Monroe was made to change her name, or that the lineup changes and a new sound called for a fresh start.
Bless the Martyr and the Scogin years
The first album under the new name, Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child, came out on Solid State in 2002. Adam Dutkiewicz of Killswitch Engage produced it, and the band recorded it live with very few overdubs. musicOMH heard Converge in its riffs, and AllMusic called it an intimidating album of gargantuan proportions. "Memphis Will Be Laid to Waste" is the song from it that fans tend to name first.
It was Scogin's only album with the band. He left soon after it came out, saying it was "just something that I felt led to do," and went on to form The Chariot. He's since joined Norma Jean on stage to sing "Memphis." Doolittle left around the same time, and Jake Schultz took over on bass.
Cory Brandan and the Grammy nod
Brad Norris sang with the band for about a year and nine months. Then they brought in Cory Brandan, who'd sung in Eso-Charis and spent time in Living Sacrifice. O God, the Aftermath followed in March 2005, and its artwork was nominated for Best Recording Package at the 2006 Grammy Awards.
Norma Jean played Ozzfest in 2006. That year they made Redeemer with producer Ross Robinson. Davison left in 2007 and later drummed for Underoath. For The Anti Mother in 2008, the band wrote songs with Helmet's Page Hamilton and Deftones singer Chino Moreno, then played the whole Warped Tour.
After Solid State
In late 2009 Norma Jean left Solid State for Razor & Tie. Meridional came out in 2010 and Wrongdoers in 2013. In 2015 they re-signed with Solid State for Polar Similar (2016), then released All Hail (2019) and Deathrattle Sing for Me (2022). None of the founding members are left.
Faith
Fans long filed Norma Jean as a Christian band, partly because of Brandan's time in Living Sacrifice and their tours with bands like Demon Hunter. Brandan put it his own way in 2015: "I can't say that we're a full-on Christian band. I'm a Christian. I can speak for myself, but that's all I can speak for." In December 2006 Revolver put him on its cover alongside Underoath's Spencer Chamberlain, Demon Hunter's Ryan Clark and As I Lay Dying's Tim Lambesis.
Where they sit in the scene
Norma Jean is the mathcore wing of the Solid State roster. Their sound is messier and more chaotic than most of the metalcore around them, and it usually gets compared to Coalesce, Botch and Converge rather than to their labelmates.
