12 ARTS & CULTURE OVER THE EXGE NEWSPAPER. NOVEMBER 8, 2006 Ask most serious bands about the recording process, and if they don't compare it to giving birth, they'll likely tell you that making an album is akin to psychotherapy. But let's be real here: How many of those bands actually take the album-as-therapy idea literally? For Atlanta quintet Norma Jean, who for all intents and purposes should be some of the most content dudes in underground music right now, the recording sessions for their third album, Redeemer, packed group therapy, boot camp and endur- ance test into one gnarly package. Produced by Ross Robinson (At The Drive-in, From First To Last, Sepul- Aces tura), Redeemer is at once the heaviest and most personal album in this band's arsenal—and that’s saying something: With their 2002 Solid State Records debut, Bless The Martyr And Kiss The Child, Norma Jean established them- selves as one of the noisiest and most adventurous young bands in metal to- day. With the 2005 follow-up, O’ God, The Aftermath, drummer. Daniel Davi- son, bassist Jake Schultz, and guitarists Chris-Day and Scottie Henry welcomed new vocalist and Arkansas native Cory Brandan to their lineup and took their artful, technical noise to the proverbial next level, earning critical acclaim and a 2006 Grammy nomination (for Asterik Studios’ awe-inspiring artwork) in the process, and embarking on a grueling tour schedule that most recently found them on Ozzfest 2006's second stage. And now, with a new, expanded edition of Aftermath in stores, the obvious ques- tion follows: When you still have past glories‘to coast on, why make a new al- bum at all? “Basically, we had too much material brewing inside us, and we wanted to get it out,’ says Davison, laughing. “We probably could've waited to record until after we cut back on what we had, but when the opportunity to work with Ross came up, it just felt like, ‘Man, be- ing in the studio with this guy is some- thing I’ve wanted to do since I was 12 years old; I'm gonna do anything I can to make this happen now.” After practicing, in Davison’s recollec- tion, “pretty much every day, for about 50 days solid,’ and going through rigor- ous pre-production at home in Atlanta, the band decamped with Robinson to Radio Star Studios in the tiny mountain town of Weed, California, to start work on Redeemer. Though some of the songs were still works-in-progress (as Bran- danis recalls it, “Songs were changing up until 20 minutes before we tracked them’) the lyrics, again written collabor- atively by Brandan, Henry and Davison, really took shape once the band got into the studio. “Wed rehearse a song till we felt we had it worked out, and then wed bring in Ross and sit down for another hour or two just to discuss it,’ Brandan says. “He had us all in there as a group, talk- ing about each song—what the lyrics were about, where they came from, what the song meant to us personally and spiritually, It was really intense; so much stuff came out during those sessions, and in the end, it was really unifying for us as a band.’ While rehearsals took place in a beautiful, open-stage environment inside the studio, tracking itself was another story—all part of the intense process that would eventually shape the songs, “I tracked my drums under the stage, Davison remembers, laughing, “Wed get done talking about the-song, and then wed head down below the stage into, like, this little dungeon. It was really small, and the drums were set up with mikes all over them; there were hor water pipes, ventilation, everywhere—it was really intense, We could barely stand up because the ceiling was so low, but Ross was there the whole time, coaching us and keeping us in that mindset.’ Just one listen to Redeemer confirms the ferocity of the band’s performances. From the discordant breakdowns and jarring time changes of “The End Of All ‘Things Will Be Televised” to the new- found melodic intensity of “Blueprints For Future Homes,’ the album packs some of Norma Jean's most unhinged, soul-baring playing into the span of 11 songs. And though the weird angles and difficult guitar figures that com- prised Aftermath are still prevalent, that album's refined, very-much-studio feel High Rocks MITCH GRANT STAFF WRITER ‘The lights went dark at the local bar, The Generator as Ceremony took its place on stage for what promised to be, and became, a night of rock. After playing one, 30 minute, set filled with technical and performance errors, this grunge/rock band seamed to have the same amount of energy and char- isma on stage as a pair of dueling tor- toises, as band members seamed tired of playing and most of the audience had a very un-impressed look on their face. After being given a short intermis- sion, Aces High took the stage. Open- ing with The Prisoner from the classic metal band, Iron Maidens, “Number of the Beast” Album, for this Maiden Tribute band’s three sets, two and a half hour classic metal marathon that blew this twelve year Maiden fan's mind and made a fellow trooper out of his guest, leaving people screaming for more after one encore. Paying tribute to Iron Maiden's entire career, with songs ranging from Killers to Wildest Dreams including, but not limited to, 2 Minutes to Midnight, The Trooper, Wasted Years, Hallowed Be Thy Name, Children of the Damned, Run to the Hills, and Number of the Beast and of course their name sake Aces High, This was the first tribute or cover band this fan has EVER seen come this close to the real thing, creating a night time of madness and mayhem that even Eddie himself would have been proud of. While the opening band, Ceremony, e Radar - Norma Jean has given way to raw atmospheres in which you can practically see the sweat running onto the instruments. Brandan, whos already proved himself a formid- able vocalist, fully comes into his own on Redeemer with a style that veers between unhinged screaming and down-on-his- knees melodic belting, As has been the case with Norma Jean's previous albums, fans will in- terpret Redeemer’s title in a number of ways: There's the obvious (it’s their shortest album title ever); the semi-ob- vious (the band members are Christian; the alburt's called Redeemer—you fol- low?); and the not-so-obvious (look up “Redeemer” in Webster's Dictionary for even more possibilities). All of these, says Davison, are valid readings, but as before, it's better just to listen to the whole album before settling on an opin- ion about what it all means. “We just wanted a title that was short and simple, but also really powerful,’ Davison explains. “Redeemer’ was the most powerful word we could think of, and obviously, for us, being a spiritual band, it takes on special meaning.’ Bran- dan agrees, “We didn't call it Redeemer and then try to make the lyrics work around that [idea],’ he says. “There's some really personal stuff on this record, and even though I’m seeing in hindsight that the title ties into some of that, I’ve always thought it's best just to let people come up with their own ideas about the songs, rather than say, “This is our con- cept; this is what the record's about.’ No matter how you interpret it, one thing's for sure: Slide it into your player, and you will feel Redeemer more than any other Norma Jean album. Emo- tional, spiritual, visceral, physical—this isn't just the third album Norma Jean wanted to make; it's the career-defining statement they had to. ultimately left something wanting in their performance for the evening, Aces High ran free and was no slave to power as energy flowed from all of their band members into the adoring Maiden fans below, creating a performance that can only be described as nothing short of amazing, for “[their] first gig’ I have been an Iron Maiden fan for over a decade now, and having heard many Maiden covers and tributes, Aces High seamed to bring the real Iron Maiden to life, live on stage, for every- one at The Generator that night, making even the hardest of Maidens vocals and solos ring true. If given the chance I highly recom- -mend to all our readers, regardless of musical interest, thar they check this band out, you will not be disappointed.