Review by Shadowdoom9 (Andi) for Counterparts - The Difference Between Hell and Home (2013)
The more hardcore side of metalcore was rising back from the grave in the early 2010s, and one of the bands involved in the revival is this Canadian band Counterparts. The emotion can be heard from both the music and the lyrics sung by vocalist Brendan Murphy.
The Difference Between Hell and Home is the right path for them! Counterparts continue the metalcore/hardcore sound developed in the first two albums with a blend of melody and heaviness to put them in a similar level as other cool bands like The Ghost Inside. The lyrical writing focuses on giving people a motivational spark from relatable topics, from love to inner struggles.
"Lost" opens the album with pure lyrical nostalgia, "I feel absolutely nothing, life is a lost cause." The screams by Murphy are in great harmony with the guitar duo of Alex Re and Jesse Doreen. The riff experimentation helps the band stay unique. The lyrical message shall inspire you to battle your demons. "Ghost" takes on one-sided relationships in the lyrics, with music not too far off from Silverstein. "Please don't forget my face, I won't forget to remember you." Picking things up is "Debris" with a lot of heavy riffing. And more of that comes up in "Outlier" with lyrics of isolation, "I am what I am, and I am an outcast." That stellar outro has the best guitar harmony and drum-work here.
The single "Witness" continues the ongoing objective to unite hardcore with metal, with emotional lyrics by their side, "I lost track of all the times I made it home alive." Lots of heavy dissonance from the excellent guitars there! "Decay" is more of an ambient intermission with a spoken poem rising into screaming, all in a similar vein to La Dispute. It leads to the masterpiece highlight "Compass", the best standout in the music and lyrics. "I am a compass, constantly spinning, constantly searching for the end." The drumming and riffing sound so progressive, and the midsection breakdown touches down hard. The outro after a small break from heaviness has some absolutely chilling lyrics, ending with Murphy yelling the album title, "You're the difference between Hell and Home!"
"Wither" follows as actually the weakest track here, though weak doesn't necessarily mean bad, otherwise the album rating would be lower. "Cursed" has more of the best lyrics here, right from the beginning, when Murphy bellows "The facade is something greater than ourselves!" Then we reach a killer two-part finale, starting with the loud fast "Slave", a hardcore song with a ravaging breakdown. The slow heavy ending track "Soil" has more groove-ish riffing with some ambience popping up once in a while. Murphy tells you all to "find your mark and make it" before the final bit of riffing that all fades into an outro of ambient noise.
Counterparts know their way through dark beauty as proven by The Difference Between Hell and Home. This can surely reach the playlists of the more hardcore metalcore fans. Only one or two songs have some slight errors. For everything else, the cohesive emotional writing is what makes them shine. This album might surely be a true definition of the more hardcore metalcore revival!
Favorites: "Ghost", "Outlier", "Witness", "Compass", "Cursed", "Soil"