Norma Jean

by Alex HendersonNot to be confused with either the late-'70s disco diva (who sang with Chic in 1977 before going solo and having a hit with 1978's "Saturday") or the country singer (who had some hits in the '60s), this Norma Jean is a Christian alternative metal/metalcore band that used to go by the name Luti-Kriss. At first, Norma Jean went with a rap-metal approach -- in reviews, the former Luti-Kriss was often described as the Christian equivalent of Limp Bizkit, Korn, (hed) p.e., Methods of Mayhem, or Rage Against the Machine. But as the band evolved, Norma Jean got away from rap-metal and became even heavier. The bandmembers heard on 2002's Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child don't believe in subtlety any more than they believe in taking prisoners; they do, however, believe in having a very harsh, punishing sound and beating listeners into obedience (musically, not literally -- they're a Christian band, after all). And while those who don't care for metalcore's harshness are unlikely to become Norma Jean converts, the Southern band has enjoyed a small but enthusiastic cult following in the alterna-metal underground (where they have appealed to both Christian and non-Christian headbangers). Norma Jean was formed in Douglasville, GA (a suburb of Atlanta), in 1997. In the early 2000s, the band recorded two CDs as Luti-Kriss. The first was the EP 5 (which came out on the Pluto label), and that disc was followed by the full-length album Throwing Myself, which came out on the Seattle-based Solid State label (a subsidiary of Tooth and Nail Records) in 2001. After that album, Luti-Kriss changed its name to Norma Jean because some people were confusing the band with the controversial rapper Ludacris -- who, coincidentally, is also from the Atlanta area. Ludacris is one of the top rappers in the Dirty South school of hip-hop, and he is known for his explicit lyrics (which have been lambasted by conservative commentator Bill O'Reilly, host of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor). Released by Solid State in 2002, Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child was the former Luti-Kriss' first album as Norma Jean. It was also the band's heaviest, most brutal effort to date. While Norma Jean's first recordings inspired comparisons to Limp Bizkit, Korn, (hed) p.e., and Methods of Mayhem, Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child was often compared to Hatebreed. Isis and Mastodon producer Matt Bayles was in charge of the fierce O God, the Aftermath (2005) while Korn and Limp Bizkit producer Ross Robinson helmed the epic Redeemer (2006).