BAND: COUNTERPARTS
ALBUM: THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HELL AND HOME
RELEASE DATE: JULY 23RD, 2013
LABEL: VICTORY
RATING: 10/10
Counterparts are set to release their new album “The Difference Between Hell And Home” on July 23rd. Counterparts are a Hardcore / Metal band mixed with some melodic elements as well. The band formed in 2007 and are currently signed with Victory Records. I’m going to be honest, I really haven’t heard much of Counterparts before this review but after listening to this new album I might have to mark them down as a “must see” band when they come around my town.
I went back and listened to the previous album “The Current Will Carry Us” to kind of get a feel to see if they’ve progressed in any way. The answer is yes, they have definitely progressed as a band. You know that feeling you get when you start listening to something new, you‘re kind of iffy about it at first but the more you keep listening the more you start to enjoy it and get into it? That‘s exactly what happened with me. You can tell this is written from a personal standpoint and I really enjoy when bands put out albums like this for the fans to connect to. I don’t have lyrics to go off of to be precise about the writing that I heard. Trust me though, this album is written very well and I think the combination of that and the sound of the overall album is what made me feel so connected. It’s a very honest and heartfelt written album.
I would say that this is a more aggressively melodic approach for Counterparts on this album. Don’t fret though, there are still some heavy hitting moments for all of your breakdown needs as well. The album starts out with “Lost” which right off the bat shows the more aggressive style that Counterparts is going for. My favorite song on the album is “Debris.” This song is pretty much thrown at you with everything and it stood out to me more than the others on the album. It starts out with a really fast pace and drumming that invades your ears in a chaotic yet pleasant way. The drumming is a standout all throughout the album. The melodic chorus section of this song at 35 seconds in is definitely the highlight, the guitar work is portrayed so well and it stands out more along with the vocals also. It has that nice flow feeling where you can just play that one part over and over again.
Every song on this album is solid, I can’t really seem to find anything to criticize. “Outlier” has a nice touch of clean vocals towards the end of the song, which is pretty rare to hear on the album since the band seems to stick strictly with the hard vocals. “Decay” is the intermission so to speak, it split’s the album with a really calm paced message and draws you in as the guitars, drums and vocals progress into a more aggressive passionate sound. “Compass” and “Slave” are two of the more heavier driven songs on the album, so if you’re into a more heavier sound then those two will be for you. “Compass” has a nice breakdown section at 2:20 also.
The album ends with “Soil” which is 5:43 in length. To me this is actually the most complex sounding song on the album, there’s so much going on but it still has a nice feel to it. Whether it’s fast paced or slow everything still sounds in tact and is well put together.
I really enjoyed this album and definitely consider myself a new counterparts fan after hearing this album, it’s definitely the direction counterparts should stick with because it fits them rather well. The album has so much to offer lyrically and instrumentally wise. There was a lot of effort put into this along with a lot of emotion and it definitely stands out.
– Alex G.
