Artist: Norma Jean Album: O' God the Aftermath Label: Solid State Records Rating: 6 out of 10

Non-fans of brutal noise-metal, just stop reading now. Those who enjoy a little ear punishment every now and then, listen up. Norma Jean is back with an ominously-titled new record O' God the Aftermath and a revised sound thatıs sure to polarize fans and scenesters alike. The band known as Luti-Kriss when they debuted back in 2001 quickly made a name for themselves in the Christian metalcore scene. But with the substitution of screamer Cory Brandan for Josh Scogin (now fronting the equally-insane The Chariot), Norma Jean have taken a turn to the chaotic. For evidence of an influence by genre pioneers Converge, look no further than opener "An Avalanche in D Minor," which features that bandıs trademark off-kilter rhythms, roared vox, and insane string bends. Dillinger Escape Planıs technical fury figures heavily into the trippy, double-time guitar lines and gattling-gun drums of "Dilemmachine." On both songs, thereıs nary a hook in sight. But on Aftermath's two MP3 singles, Norma Jean offer just that. The brutal, grinding verses of "Bayonetwork" open up for a surprising sung-scream chorus that's raw, but relatively-speaking, quite melodic. "Vertebraille" does it one better, including whiplash-inducing tempo shifts, a new-metal-ish hook, and ultra-bleak lyrics: "I have been sold into slavery./ I try to drown my sorrows but the sorrow swims well," Brandan roars and you believe him. However, the five or six structured, well-written songs here throw the other half into sharp relief. When you can neatly combine melody and brutality in one song, why waste time on the unorganized noise of "Charactarantula", or mid-tempo riffing and standard-issue screaming of the 10-minute "Disconnecktie"? While Aftermath has its hits, the aforementioned misses make this feel more like a stepping-stone record than a truly cohesive album. But in a dirty little club, with limbs flailing in every direction, almost everything here will probably sound brilliant. - Todd Thatcher