Pressing play on any number of music that crosses my digital desk is, to be blunt, a crap shoot which presents just as many risks (To my ears) as it does rewards (Again, to my ears). Which brings us to Austin, Texas’ Hinayana who deliver humongous aural rewards (To my ears AND yours) when it comes to their upcoming EP, Death Of The Cosmic.
But I digress.
First off, I highly recommend that Death Of The Cosmic be listened to with headphones and at loud volumes. Second, it’s probably best that you mute your phone and block off your calendar for the chunk of time that DOTC exists….and then pad that time after so you have a chance to recover afterwards…to fully capture the scope and the atmosphere beyond the main sonic bludgeoning from guitars, bass, drums, and Casey Hurd’s monstrous pipes.
As an EP, it’s MASSIVE and an impressive introduction to the quintet if you don’t know them already. From the moment the burgeoning title track begins it immediately reels listeners in as it ascends towards soaring guitars, gruff vocals from Hurd, and Michael Anstice’s world-building synths which collectively create this complex Metal utopia.
“Cold Conception” features Tengger Cavalry’s Nature Ganganbaigal and is a beautiful beast that is reminiscent of the era of Amorphis that I became familiar with that sextet (Talkin’ ’bout Tuonela circa 1999) as subtle piano lines accent all and crippling guitar sounds from Hurd and Erik Shtaygrud set an overall heavy mood.
“Yet Here I Wait Forever” is every bit as epic and apocalyptical as its’ title implies. With tender pluckings to start, a wall of sound soon envelopes listeners to add an almost Katatonia-style brand of Gothic divinity to the proceedings while later, Hanging Garden’s Toni Toivonen helps out on “In Sacred Delusion” which, when coupled with these The Real Thing kinds of synth lines, is utterly devastating due in part to the rhythmic onslaught drummer Daniel Vieira and bassist Matt Bius bring to the table coupled with ripping guitar lines from Shtaygrud and Hurd,
Capping it all off with “Pitch Black Noise”, Hinayana end Death Of The Cosmic in the stars for a glistening five minutes of the best modern Progressive Metal you’ll hear in 2020.
Death Of The Cosmic arrives via Napalm Records on August 28th and this big, beautiful beastie can be yours when you click here or here for the pre-order options which are available now. For more on Hinayana, follow them across the interwebs by clicking here or here.
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