Norma Jean

With their lyrics and general outlook built on their Christian faith and their scorching, head thrashing riffs, Norma Jean have become a successful, longstanding fixture on the US metal scene for two decades. Formed in the small town of Douglasville (Georgia), in 1997, they started out as Luti-Kriss and were part of the nu-metal craze in the late-1990s before a line-up change led to them taking Marilyn Monroe's real name and crafting a more thunderous and grizzled, hardcore sound. It wasn't until Corey Putman took over as front man and songwriter in 2005 that the band really hit their stride, though, and albums O God', the Aftermath and Redeemer (2006) were explosive battles between fury and melody that built a loyal fan base. Featuring guest appearances from Deftones front man Chino Moreno, alternative metal pioneer Page Hamilton and Cove Reber from post-hardcore outfit Saosin, 2008 album The Anti Mother was more adventurous and experimental in style but proved to be a big success and took them from underground cult favourites to number 29 in the US charts. A draining, full throttle touring schedule again led to major line-up changes, but the band came back strongly on the storming metalcore epic Wrongdoers and released their seventh album Polar Similar in 2016, after resigning with their first label Solid State. Lead guitarist since 2011, Jeff Hickley is replaced by Grayson Stewart for the eighth album All Hail (2019), along with bassist/guitarist Clay Crenshaw. In 2022, guitarist Michael Palmqvist took rhythm guitar on following album Deathrattle Sing for Me, before departing next year.