Review Summary: I am a metaphor for moving forward.
The Difference Between Hell and Home was a turning point in Counterparts' career. Gone was the rawness of their previous studio outing
The Current Will Carry Us, and instead replaced with a more refined, tight hardcore sound. There was something more mature and interesting about the former than the somewhat overbearing intensity of the latter. It was a coming of age for the Canadian melodic hardcore outfit, proving that they weren't just a carbon copy of every single band in the heavy music scene. But naturally, it was uncertain as to how Counterparts could grow from it. However, the band have managed to go from strength to strength on their latest LP
Tragedy Will Find Us, creating arguably their finest work so far.
TWFU is, without a doubt, the blackest album yet by Counterparts; and that's saying a lot. Heavier breakdowns, more pounding drums and more intense vocals than before are all over the record's relatively short run time. Musically, the band have never sounded better; the instrumentals really begin to compliment vocalist Brendan Murphy's voice, and each soaring melody remains in the mind long after you've finished listening. Because of the magnitude of each track, there is no filler, or at least there are no long stretches of tedium thanks to the stronger tracks such as the singles “Burn” and “Collapse”. Counterparts have transformed the positive energy from TDBHAH and diffused it into another developed and distinct group of songs.
Brendan Murphy's lyrics continue to be some of the most poetic and poignant in hardcore music. Much of the album describes life at the very bottom, where everything is desolate and empty. The furious screams of “bury me breathing so I can watch myself decay” and “I hope you f*cking choke to death” show the barren and miserable landscape of Murphy's mind. But in these lyrics, there's a finality almost, as if this chapter of the singer's life is coming to a close. “I think I've finally identified the difference, I think I live in both my hell and my home” says Murphy on the affecting album closer “Solace”. There's finally signs of moving on coming from the lyrics; on the track “Drown”, there's even a sense that Murphy is trying to help others on the edge, stating that “everything goes black but you will see me just fine”. He wants them to know that he's been there before and they aren't alone; when you're truly at the lowest ebb of your life, there's nowhere else to go except up.
Tragedy Will Find Us show Counterparts at their very best; outstanding musically and painfully intimate lyrically. If TDBHAH pushed Counterparts above the melodic hardcore pack, this is the crowning ceremony. If there is one detraction, it's that it doesn't last long enough, clocking in at just over 34 minutes. But when an album is of this power and quality, it's easy to look over this. TWFU is not just a heavy and passionate documentation of depression and misery, but a way to cope and stick through it all.
Don't let me in, don't let me go
I'd rather die than live without you.
