French doom/death metal band Nornes released their newest album Thou Hast Done Nothing on December 2, 2025. It's an album that's a different experience for me; I haven't really dipped my toes into this style of progressive metal. I wasn't a huge fan of the album. I honestly think this album is slow and plodding leading to a conclusion that was incredibly underwhelming. There are aspects of the album I do enjoy, however, and we'll get into those first. I like the instrumentation and how even through the instruments the album plunges you into the darkest of depths. There isn't anything light and refreshing about this album - it brings you down and holds you in the darkness not releasing you from its grasp until the conclusion. The instruments act as a way to build atmosphere around the tracks, which is interesting in theory but it doesn't produce an interesting album. I gave it that it's very original and different, just a band doing whatever they want with their music which is something I greatly admire. But the listening experience just didn't do it for me. The instrumentation does meld and blend perfectly with each other especially on the opening track, (Never) Ending Failures) which features riffs and slow, plodding drum beats with muddled screamed vocals which I wasn't necessarily a fan of either. The instruments seem to overpower the vocals so I couldn't even gather what the unclean vocalist was saying. I will add, however, that the clean sing is really good and makes the track soar.

The second offering on this LP, A Rose to the Sword was a little bit more interesting in my opinion and a standout track for sure. It features slow drums and guitar riffs which work perfectly with each other. You can feel the tightness and cohesion of the band through the instrumentation, but once the screamed vocals come in I just can't do it. The vocalist has a very scratchy voice and it's definitely hard to hear over the loud tuned instruments. The song slows down even further at the back end of the track which features the soft sounds of an electric guitar and exaggerated crash symbol, which was interesting. Overall, this song is my favorite on the album, but the album and band style just isn't my thing. I think the songs are too long and after a while they begin to lose to steam. When you have a 5 song LP that's fifty minutes long, red flags start to raise up in my opinion. We are led to the conclusion of this album with the song Oneness which begins with the lightly strummed cord of a guitar and nothing else. The other instruments come in and crash through the silence of the opening. I like the clean vocals here, and how they echo through the track, soaring above the instruments. This song is dripping in disdain and darkness, bringing the listener deep into the darkest pits of emotion. In that way, the album does a good job. But overall, I just wasn't a huge fan. The songs were overly long and the unclean vocals didn't do it for me, but the instrumentation meshed well together.