It’s fair to say that Hinayana are not hanging around as they look to press on and unleash their inspirations at quite a pace.
Having released their debut demo the band self-released their debut album Order Divine in 2018. This bold move gained the attention of Napalm Records and swiftly after signing, the band released their debut EP on the label Death Of The Cosmic which landed in pandemic times.
Now is the time for the band to unleash their label debut full length and the Melodic Death Metallers from Austin, Texas aren’t just here to make up the numbers.
As soon as you press play you are dragged into a spiralling sound of frost and despair, with a steady drum pace and a Melodic guitar over which there is a Black Metal vocal that brings the sound of horror. As the opening track progresses you experience soaring guitars, a more instrumental section and then flirt with more depths.
The opening will get you ready for what is to come but also acts as a doorway into what is left to come. The way that the tracks are structured, you get a combination of choppy guitars and then melodic soaring strings, as the drum mixes things up between a walking pace and breaks out into the occasional quicker rumble of the double kick drum.
Vocally that Black Metal influence runs throughout, however, it matches the tone and pace perfectly. There really is a fantastic balance to everything you are about to hear.
The way that the heavy and dark is matched with the melodic sections is as impressive as it is rare and with sounds that would fill an impressive-sized room, it is not difficult to imagine hearing these tracks live, surrounded by thousands of fellow fans.
It is rare for a band who is on their second full-length release to find such a brilliant balance of sound and quality. There is no denying that Shatter And Fall is a top-drawer album and will immediately put the band with the likes of Septicflesh and Dimmu Borgir.
The blurb that comes with an album review states that this is “a benchmark I the annals of American melodic death metal history”, however, I would suggest that this is bigger than America. For me, this is an injection of new blood into the worldwide Melodic Death Metal scene and will make everyone else stand up and take note.
Shatter and Fall will be released Friday, November 10th via Napalm Records.
Ed Ford
Tracklist
- Slowly Light Collides
2. Mind Is A Shadow
3. How Many Dreams
4. Spirit And Matter
5. From Our Darkest Moments
6. Reverse The Code
7. Lost To Flame
8. The Answer
9. Triptych Visions
10. A Tide Unturning
11. Taken
Online
https://www.facebook.com/hinayanamusic/
https://www.instagram.com/hinayanaband/