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Counterparts

The Difference Between Hell And Home

Written by: PP on 17/08/2013 15:37:42

If you're looking for the next big thing within melodic hardcore, then fans and critics alike have been pointing in the direction of Counterparts as the most plausible challenger for the throne currently held onto by The Ghost Inside. Their third album "The Difference Between Hell And Home" continues to balance eerie melodies against a fundamentally aggressive and hardcore punk based sound, taking best of both worlds to produce a hauntingly beautiful, yet an urgency and immediacy-filled soundscape.

Although saturation is quickly starting to build up within melodic hardcore given the meteoric success of the genre in recent years, it's still easy to spot the great releases away from the gray masses. Here, Counterparts rely on inspirational lyrics, anthemic hardcore melodies, occasional halfway clean vocals, but most importantly, fantastic instrumental dynamics to create a convincing sound. This record is full of lingering melodies that build up to explosion points, over which vocalist Brendan Murphy delivers his impassioned scream. One of the most memorable examples can be found in "Outlier", where he screams "I am what I am / And I am an outcast" while the instrumentals concentrate on the aforementioned balance between down-tuned riffage and beautiful lead melody simultaneously.

Granted, Murphy isn't as charismatic of a vocalist as TGI's Jonathan Vigil, and has much more in common with Hundredth's Chadwick Johnson in that his scream can be a little monotonous and certainly requires quite a few listens before it starts to feel at home against the rest of the soundscape. Once it does, however, there are some exceptionally good songs to be found here, even if the record as a whole doesn't threaten TGI as much as the pre-release hype led many to believe. Solid record, but not a groundbreaking one.

Download: Lost, Outlier, Wither, Debris, Compass
For the fans of: Hundredth, It Prevails, Stick To Your Guns
Listen: Facebook

Release date 23.07.2013
Victory Records