As
I am prone to telling almost anyone who will listen, Norma Jean has long been
one of my favorite bands, and since its announcement about a year ago, I had
been jittery with excitement in awaiting their latest release, Polar Similar. Despite this act’s fluid
nature as a musical collective, my faith in their ability to deliver music
that is both groundbreaking and yet true to the legacy has been unwavering. And
though there are no longer any founding members present in the band,
this fresh lineup succeeds in honoring the tradition that is Norma Jean while
producing what may be the best record yet released under the moniker.
Norma
Jean has perpetually been a heavy band, and Polar
Similar delivers fully on that promise. Guitarists Jeff Hickey and Philip
“Philly” Farris pull heady, ground-shaking chugs from their instruments,
playing predominantly in tunings as low as Drop-A or Drop-G. Bassist John
Finnegan thunders out angry bass notes that reverberate through the chest,
while Clayton “Goose” Holyoak bludgeons his drums towards a violent end. The
band is loud and brutally heavy, pulling as much metal from their instruments
as possible, smashing melody against mania without compromise.
Norma
Jean has loaded Polar Similar with
the same raging heaviness we expect from the band, yet never before has the
music been approached with such fearlessness. As lead singer Cory Brandan
states, the intention behind the record was “to do things [our] own way, and not care if anyone gives a shit about it,” and indeed there is no lack of
innovation on the record. Norma Jean explores completely new territories in
some pieces, using sampled recordings in “II. The People” and “A Thousand Years a Minute,” featuring a spoken-word piece in “Synthetic Sun,” and mixing in a
gentle grand piano coda for “1,000,000 Watts.” This experimentation even extends
through recording techniques, as apparently the band recorded guitar parts over an indoor pool at the studio as well as through the walls of the house they stayed in.
This
willingness to delve into new, unexplored areas is truly the drive behind Polar Similar, and one of the
most notable undertakings is Cory Brandan’s increasingly melodic singing.
Although the man can scream and growl like a rabid and furious jaguar, songs
like “Reaction” and the band’s tribute to the late great Lemmy,
“Everyone Talking Over Everyone Else,” show Cory concentrating his vocals in a
beautiful yet still edgy singing voice. This choice allows for him to play with
the emotion of the song, to let his anger seethe rather than shout. This also
creates a new dynamic in the music, so that when Brandan does scream, it shakes
the listener all the more by contrasting with the quiet that came before it.
Further
nuance and innovation are present in the lyrics, both in theme and in
presentation. Apparently Polar Similar
involves a loose concept, reflected by the numbering of four of the tracks that
break up the movement of the record. And while that concept seems rather vague
and broad, that massive scope is apparently the point; as Cory puts it, the
thematic pieces arose from a desire for “Polar Similar to really tell a story and be disconnected from us as people.”
The four titles seem to zoom in on one another; “I. The Planet” being a superficial
lump of us all; “II. The People” representing the individuals; and “III. The Nebula” an ode to the undefined, amorphous boundaries that separate us.
Thus, the final and explosive track, “IV. The Nexus,” references the connecting
thread that ties us all together, the uniting sameness at the heart of all of
us that shatters those boundaries.
The
creation of Polar Similar is a form of catharsis for the band, and for me, no tune defines this feeling better
than “Death is a Living Partner.” Amid some of the most intense, unrelenting
instrumentation of the record, Cory dissects at full volume his passage from
youth into adulthood. His wail of “The invincibility of our youth has just given way…to the inevitability of our death” starts with rage, yet settles
into a full, heavy understanding of his own mortality, before naming death as
his “living partner / a consummate, consummate one.” This pounding,
furious coda is the audial equivalent of gazing into the void, a gaze that
results in either peace or annihilation, that sucks me in every single time.
Undoubtedly,
Polar Similar is an album of
evolution, of maturation, and of experimentation. Norma Jean has poured every
piece of their hearts into this record, filling it front to back with unbridled
emotion and power. Whether exploring new frontiers or treading carefully across
old wounds, this band strides forward without fear or hesitation, turning that
journey into the brutal truth that lies at the heart of every song. Polar Similar is a record full of
surprises, but it leaves me without a trace of doubt that this band’s
trajectory leads only upwards.
Tunes to Check Out:
2) Everyone Talking Over Everyone Else
3) Reaction
