1. Lost
2. Ghost
3. Debris
4. Outlier
5. Witness
6. Decay
7. Compass
8. Wither
9. Cursed
10. Slave
11. Soil
Genre: Melodic Hardcore
For Fans Of: Hundredth, It Prevails, Climates
Melodic Hardcore has always been a genre that I've listened
too, and slowly got in to. Counterparts managed to make me a fan of them with
one song. I’ll admit it, I've never actually gave them a solid listen until
this album, and I have to be completely honest, this album is perfection made
into thirty seven minutes. I’d be completely lying if I said that Counterparts didn't write a great album, and one that’s for the average hardcore kid.
Hardcore bands stand out, and none of them are ever the same. They may sound an
alike, but none are ever fully the same. This is something that makes them
stand out in music. The topics they write about aren't “fake”, they’re real
life topics, and they express their emotions toward sad topics pretty heavily.
Counterparts is a band that writes music (as it seems) for their fans, and for
their experiences. Counterparts' lyrics could mean a lot of things, and I’m
taking a wild guest about what they really write for. I’d be lying if I said
that Counterparts wasn't a dying breed of brands. They have a strong voice, and
they definitely use their voice in their lyrics. This is something admirable to
say the least, and something that makes them worth listening too. I can't lie,
there aren't many songs on this album that I dislike. Each song on this album
are equally good; none of them are better than the other, they all equal in
skill. However, some of them are done differently to set them apart, and to
make them sound different. I'm not saying that if they all sounded the same instrumentally,
they’d be bad. As long as it wasn’t the same lyrically. A few songs that stood
out on this album would have to be, “Lost”, ”Outlier”, ”Compass”, ”Cursed”,
”Slave”, and “Soil”. “Lost”, is the first song on the album, and it has a name
that kind of matches the album title “The Difference Between Hell And Home”.
What I mean by that, is that maybe in the middle of those two, the person gets
lost between the two, and doesn’t know which one is which. “Lost” definitely
starts off the album perfectly, in my opinion. It made the album have this vibe
to it that stood out. I mean, I’m not use to the whole Melodic Hardcore scene
in music yet, but I’m getting there. After listening to Counterparts, it makes
me wonder what other bands could hold? “Outlier”, is one of my favorite songs
on this album. The lyrics sort of pack a punch, and the instruments on this
song are my favorite. The way that everything flows together, is something that
makes me want to listen to this song, and this album, over and over again. The
first time I listened to this album, I was wondering why I didn’t give this
band a chance before? “Outlier”, and “Lost”, are the two songs that make me
think of how dumb I was, for passing up this band at first. It also makes me
happy to hear it though, because I gave the band a chance. “Compass”, is heavier
than it is soft, but the meaning speaks loud. It’s one of the songs that I’d
give a five out of five too. The vocalist puts some power behind his vocals on
this release, and even more power on this song. It’s not like you can’t feel
the power, and the emotion he’s trying to make you feel. It’s there, it’s all
there, which only makes the album better, and gives it more of a reason to
listen to it. “Cursed”, is one of the songs that I strayed from at first and
then started getting into it. It's not one of my favorites, but it’s a song
that I enjoy listening to. “Slave”, this song kind of gave me a hateful
hardcore feeling at first, because of the instrument play. Now I don’t expect
Counterparts not to be original, but their instrument play influences sound
like other bands, in a way. That’s not a bad thing, I kind of enjoy it. It
shows that they listen to the other bands in their genre, and take notes.
“Soil” is the longest song on the album, and probably one of the main songs
that stand out on this release. The power that the band put behind this song is
incredible, and the feelings you can get from it (If you can relate to it) are phenomenal
. For most of the songs on this album, I'm sure someone could relate to, in a
way. It’s a well written album, and I give the band props on that. Counterparts
made me a fan of the Melodic genre a bit more than I already was. Breakdown:
Screams: The vocals are mainly screams, but they
have some intense power behind them. This makes them stand out, in my opinion.
I know that every hardcore (or almost every) band has power behind their
vocals, but the vocalist in Counterparts ties it up, and brings it home to
prove that they’re one of the better bands in the genre. Counterparts may be
the first Melodic hardcore band that I’ve listen to so far, but they surely
won’t be the last one. Instruments: The instrument play is anything, but soft.
There might be a few parts that can be considered soft, but the album overall
is heavy, and packs a punch. Not a small punch either, it’s actually a pretty
big one. The instrument play ties in with the vocals on the album, perfectly.
It's as if they were written to go together, which in my opinion, may have done
the release a lot better. I could only imagine what the band would have done if
the instrument parts were written differently, and the effect that would have
on that release. Some parts could easily be written differently, but that
doesn’t mean it will one hundred percent fit with the vocals. I think
Counterparts writes some of the best instrument parts, because of this.
Everything, and I do mean everything, goes together perfectly. No parts “stick
out”, or seem “odd” to have
Rating: 9/10
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