Norma Jean mulls its future

The band is returning to Cleveland for a show
Sunday.

By JOHN BENSON

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

Committed for life?

That’s the question being asked within Christian metalcore band Norma Jean. Such is the life for an act that lives in both the secular world and the burgeoning religious metal scene. Recently the topic came to a head when drummer Daniel Davison announced he was leaving the band he helped form in 2001 by posting his resignation on the group’s Web site.

In a nutshell, Davison feels the group has lost its focus as a ministry. While singer Cory Brandan Putman respects the drummer’s opinion, you get the sense he’s irked by the manner in which Davison went about his business.

When asked directly about the drummer’s ministry comment, which is big business in a Christian act, Putman does his best not to further ignite the flames.  

“It’s really different for everybody, but for us, when it comes down to being Norma Jean, the foremost important thing is that it’s fun music,” said Putman, calling from Abilene, Texas. “We’re a band. We play music. And obviously just like any other band out there, we’re going to sing what we believe in. That’s what every band does pretty much. For us, it just happens to be we’re all Christians.

“There are things we want to do that line up with those beliefs, so that’s what ministry is. It’s going to be different for every single one of us in the band, and it’s really not … it doesn’t … actually I’m kind of bummed out that he put that up there because it really won’t make sense to most people, that reason exactly.”

Currently on its last touring leg in support of 2006’s “Redeemer,” which saw the band gaining a larger audience, as well as its last jaunt with Davison (a new drummer will be announced in early 2008), Norma Jean is about to embark on its next chapter. However, the foundation for the group’s future was laid earlier this year when the act tested the waters on the Vans Warped Tour.

While the punk-based festival has expanded its horizons over the past decade to include emo and hardcore acts, the members of Norma Jean weren’t sure what to expect.

“We did dates on this year’s tour to just check it out,” Putman said. “It was amazing. It really is a cool festival, with lots of different kinds of bands. It doesn’t matter what kind of music you’re into, you’ll find something there you’ll be into. So we were like, ‘We’ll do the whole thing next year.’”

As for the group’s next album, which the band hopes to have out next summer, Putman hints the outfit has been toying around with adding more melody for what the singer expects to be the group’s heaviest record to date. 

In the meantime, Norma Jean fans can catch the Georgia-based act opening for Saosin on Sunday at the House of Blues. Putman is hoping the upcoming Cleveland date is different from a previous Northeast Ohio visit.

“The one memory I have of Cleveland is we played at Peabody’s DownUnder, and in that separate room there was some poetry reading thing going on,” Putman said. “And I guess all of the artists in there got wasted and were completely naked on stage. They were just walking around and totally flipped all of our fans out.”

So fans shouldn’t expect that at the upcoming date?

“Hopefully not,” Putman laughed. “It was definitely creepy. Then again, you never know. Maybe we’ll invite them back.”