Norna - Star is Way Way is Eye

Angry Metal Guy 50

There once was this little album that still sticks with me. Ex-Breach member Tomas Liljedahl created The Old Wind project, releasing sole album Feast on Your Gone as well as splits with some of Sweden’s best acts, such as the mighty Cult of Luna and creepy Terra Tenebrosa. However, Feast on Your Gone was met with little fanfare, as it ended up being too much like a Great Value Amenra. What haunts me wasn’t so much how lage of an impression it made, but rather the potential that it bled – a prominent veteran of the metal/hardcore community could still be alive and kicking after years in the biz. For nearly a decade I’ve waited for a follow-up to The Old Wind‘s debut, and while that project remains silent, Norna‘s debut will have to do.

Norna‘s debut Star is Way Way is Eye features Liljedahl at the helm, with crew members Christophe Macquat and Marc Theurillat from Swiss instrumental post-metal group Ølten. As such, the focus of Norna is not the nuanced growth of the post-metal/sludge groups of yore, but crushing mammoth hugeness. In this right, they vastly succeed, bludgeoning listeners in slow motion for forty-three minutes straight with little reprieve. Teetering on the edge of sludge and drone with a punishing guitar tone and doomed tempos, Norna still lives by way of Amenra, focusing on suffocating repetition and bleak atmosphere, but they forged Star is Way Way is Eye with enough nuance to warrant a listen or two.

STAR IS WAY WAY IS EYE by Norna

It would be easy to pigeonhole Norna as a mindless sludge beatdown, as concussions are bound to happen in Star is Way Way is Eye. However, contrary to its concrete-thick riffs, Liljedahl’s vocals and a melodic guitar performance keep it from descending into monotony – barely. Because first and foremost, Norna is heavy as fuck. Doom-infused riffs hit like a ton of bricks with an unforgiving density that recalls acts like Sunn O))) or BIG|BRAVE, edged by Macquat’s warbling synth presence. A slow-motion sledgehammer to the skull, Star is Way Way is Eye is enacted through lethargic punishment, as tracks like “Tabula Rasa” and “Mother Majestic” show exactly what you love about sludge and drone with enough dissonance and ominous progression to keep things interesting. Norna‘s guitar tone is density manifest, and paired with Liljedahl’s manic barks, it ends up a drone album cut from the same cloth as Amenra. “The Perfect Dark” and “Écône” are easily the best tracks in this right, as frantic electronic presence adds to staccato riffs and punchy percussion. This style indicates a fantastic marriage of density, heft, and atmosphere.

That being said, while Amenra succeeds in implementing hypnotic repetition, too much of Star is Way Way is Eye becomes stagnant over the course of its track lengths. Openers “The Truther”¹ and “Serpent Spine” are most guilty, as they rely on simplistic riffs that have too much repetition with too little to justify them. It cripples under the megaton weight when the shock wears off, leaving songwriting wanting. Every track, in spite of the highlights, features at least one of these riffs. Songs can feel like a waiting game in this right, just marking time until that one slog derails the whole train. Furthermore, Norna‘s breed of crushing droning post-metal feels a bit like an identity crisis, as it revels in devastation but lacks the dynamics to emphasize them. Although the ending tracks establish a good atmosphere to hold the weight, by then the riffs have long lost their bite.

Norna has some fantastic assets: unforgiving density in their droning guitar tone, Liljedahl’s sermonic vocals, and an emphasis on slow-motion devastation. Clocking in at a reasonable forty-three minutes, it still feels a bit overlong when the songwriting feels slightly stuck. When the shock of the megaton weight wears off, we’re left with a middling post-metal album. While it oozes potential in its slow-motion fury, it feels as if Liljedahl carries Norna on his back, which puts the pressure on Macquat and Theurillat to hold up their end of the deal. As it stands, Star is Way Way is Eye is a passable album with tons of devastation to behold, but it just needs to hone its songwriting to make the heaviest possible impact.

Rating: 2.5/5.0
DR: 6 | Format Reviewed: 320 kbps mp3
Label: Vinter Records
Websites: norna.bandcamp.com | facebook.com/nornaband
Releases Worldwide: February 18th, 2022

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