Meridional is the fifth studio album by American metalcore band Norma Jean. The album was released on July 13, 2010, and is also the band's first release through Razor & Tie since leaving Solid State Records in 2009. After recording their two previous studio albums, The Anti Mother and Redeemer, with producer Ross Robinson, Norma Jean selected Jeremy SH Griffith to produce Meridional in order to expand their sound. It is the last album to feature guitarist Scottie Henry, bassist Jake Schultz and drummer Chris Raines. The first single off the album, "Leaderless and Self Enlisted," was released on May 6, 2010. Norma Jean began writing music for Meridional in January 2009 in Atlanta, Georgia. In April 2009, the band dropped off a tour with Silverstein, Blessthefall and Before Their Eyes due to a number of undisclosed reasons. They announced that, upon returning to Atlanta, they would resume writing their fifth full-length. The music Norma Jean was writing was described as "something totally new" and something that would pay tribute to "how this band began by digging deep into our roots musically." The band later clarified that "roots" didn't necessarily mean that they would write a new album similar to their first record, Bless the Martyr and Kiss the Child. Instead, they were referring to their former mentality when the band members first started making music. The writing process continued throughout the remainder of 2009 and was officially completed in January 2010. Norma Je