Review by Adam M on November 2, 2023.

Hinayana perform a very melodic type of metal on Shatter And Fall. This is hard to pin down as pure melodic death metal although it approaches it. It has leanings towards an Insomnium type of sound and uses this as its base. The music has a richness to it that adds a dynamic to the sound and it traverses several melodic paths to get to its goal of melodic death metal bliss. The tracks blend seamlessly into a greater whole that is all the more interesting. The early portions of the work lend to the latter ones in a cohesive fashion. The vocals have that Omnium Gatherum feel to them and make the album crush intensly. This was a wonderous work of melodic metal that brings an ethereal element to the table nicely and it also has the right atmosphere to get you in a web of inventiveness. 

The musical performances are solid with crunchy melodic guitars rising above the remainder of the music. The drumming is pounding and forms the background to the tunes. The vocals are fierce and give the album a charism that is palpable. The guitarwork in particular is noteworthy with its melodic leanings and brings a nice flavor to the tunes building up over the course of the work and the musicianship is consistently strong throughout. There aren’t many moments when the musicianship bogs down, as it is consistently strong throughout. All in all, I was impressed with the musical aspects of this disc and the entirety of the musical performances are strong and add to the atmosphere of the music. 

If there I a flaw to the disc, it is in how it borrows heavily from the Insomnium / Omnium Gatherum brand of metal death metal and hence isn’t anything really new or noteworthy. It is a genre that already has stalwarts present and it doesn’t really surpass them, but still, it is great to hear more of this type of music as it falls off the planet sometimes. The atmosphere created is one to be remembered and has a really accessible feeling to it and taken along with solid musicianship, there is a lot to like from a mood standpoint on this this work. It is a shining example of the genre at the moment and represents an upcoming and distinctive voice of it and it is a reminder of the quality of this kind of music. It shows promise for the future of melodic death/doom. 

All in all, I had a lot of fun with this disc and it made a great impact upon me. The music here is catchy and addictive and you’ll want to return to it time and time again. It has surely reinvigorated my taste for melodic metal. Fans of bands like Insomnium and Omnium Gatherum will find a lot to like here. Still I find other elements to their sound liken them to other melodic bands like Swallow The Sun. There is simply so much to like with the material and it's very endearing quality to it that the entirety of the sound is fresh and invigorates the genre. In the future, I hope the band expands upon their sound and continues to remain forebearers for the genre as it continues to develop. Hinayana could become a bright shining beacon that would bring melodic death metal bands of the past into the forefront and add itself to the list.

Rating: 7.5 out of 10