Counterparts
Nothing Left to Love


5.0
classic

Review

by Have you tried jamming Helcaraxe? CONTRIBUTOR (144 Reviews)
November 10th, 2019 | 86 replies


Release Date: 2019 | Tracklist

Review Summary: No more blood to bleed

The tale of Brendan Murphy always sounds like that of a man constantly attempting to escape the fringes of tragedy but always being dragged back in by whatever outer means there are. This is evident from the start with the shift between Prophets and The Current Will Carry Us, going from the excessive youthful bonfire of hope to a flickering candlelight. By the time we arrive to an album like Tragedy Will Find Us, hope has been sucked dry and the inevitability of tragedy has become a swarming black hole. The self deprecation and struggles with depression are something that Brendan Murphy has always brandished deep into the core of Counterparts music, and off of Nothing Left To Love it is clear that Counterparts have finally reached their root. The blend of somber melancholy and seething anger has finally peaked into something the band was always so close to reaching, and man oh man is it a heavy thing to feel.

It's immediately present off of "Love Me". The atmosphere is much more oppressive and the vocals more scathing than ever, even if all that's backing it is a chug-a-lug 0-000-00 "riff". However you'd be fooled to believe that the guitar work here has been stripped into anything irritatingly basic, since "Wings of Nightmares" features some of the most lush melodies ever to grace the ears. There's a very mathcore-like intricacy without the mechanical nature of mathcore present off this whole album, which is both present off the constantly fleeting melodies and chugs as well as in the subtly intricate drum patterns. Speaking of which, the drum work off this album is beyond the shadow of a doubt the best heard from Counterparts. The level of dynamics are incredible, such as that on "Ocean of Another", as things switch from chaotic constant drum fills to softly audible cymbal crashes during the tracks airier moments.

Musically, this is incredibly accomplished and dynamic as a whole, as we are taken from the aforementioned chaotic beauty of "Ocean of Another" to the spacey drunken haze of the title track. It's not like Counterparts have never done a track solely based on atmosphere and crescendoing(?) melancholy, (I.e, Decay) but god it feels so potent here. The way the lines "did the mother of god cry for her son" sound so genuinely broken and defeated is heart wrenching, as are the visceral screams of the one simple question that has been present all throughout- will you love me when there's nothing left to love? This is where my admittedly major bias takes place, as the chills I feel are undoubtedly not from the freakish cold of my bedroom in the midst of November. I was a self deprecating 16 y/o who felt like an anchor dragging down the world when I heard lines like "expose me for all that I am/the man behind the masquerade/I am my own false witness". I related to the feelings of worthlessness, of tearing apart every aspect of ugliness within me. Now at 21 things have come full circle and I am back to my starting point, with every major advancement being torn back down by my own inability to have confidence or self love. However, within both myself and this record there is a silver lining, and that is that there is always the ability to progress. To escape the suffocating nature of one's own mindset and bloom into something beautiful. That maybe, just maybe, when there's no more blood to bleed there's still something to hold onto.



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user ratings (807)
4
excellent
other reviews of this album
Winsomniac (4.5)
I hate it here and never want to leave....



Comments:Add a Comment 
Dedes
Contributing Reviewer
November 10th 2019


10556 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Ugh I love Counterparts

Anything I can do to improve this review please tell me because I have decided to suck notably less ass at writing this time around

Dedes
Contributing Reviewer
November 10th 2019


10556 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Don't let this dei

Observer
Emeritus
November 10th 2019


9454 Comments


Dont let yourself die either, fight on. Record is awesome.

Dedes
Contributing Reviewer
November 10th 2019


10556 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Of course man. For as ugly as everything may be there's no reason to feel so enveloped by it.

Also good luck to you dude! I know you're going through the same heavy shit yourself

Observer
Emeritus
November 11th 2019


9454 Comments


Cheers. I really appreciate these guys. Exceptional for introspective cathartic/convalescent listening, maybe more so than any other band.

MacMillanCoD4
November 11th 2019


12 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

This is my Album of the Year, narrowly edging out Melancholy by Shadow of Intent.



This album spoke to me on the same level as YNYA did, but this record is a bit tighter in production, songwriting, and overall tone. Love both albums, both are 5/5s for me. Nothing Left to Love is, in my opinion, what all their albums have been building up to.

Cr1TiKaL
November 11th 2019


2 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Love the personal flair of this review, album resonates with me in a similar way. Have a pos.



Oh and album fucking slays. Cherished and Oceans of Another are god tier tracks.

BallsToTheWall
November 11th 2019


51603 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Saw them an hour ago. Sweet set. Singer was wearing a dope It Dies Today shirt.

Dedes
Contributing Reviewer
November 11th 2019


10556 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Never jammed It Dies Today. They good or nah?

kingjulian
November 11th 2019


1800 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

Good review, album is great.

BallsToTheWall
November 11th 2019


51603 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

As of now Dedes, they’re still solid, but they were a game-changer for me more

Than 10+ years ago.

TheNotrap
Staff Reviewer
November 11th 2019


19009 Comments


Nice review, have my pos.
I don't know these guys, I might check it one of these days, even though I'm not a big metalcore/emo fan.





dangerousdarrin
November 11th 2019


847 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Incredible album. I haven't listened to much else besides this in the past week

JayEnder
November 11th 2019


21136 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Some of these soundoffs are fucking AIDS.

Dedes
Contributing Reviewer
November 11th 2019


10556 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Its ok, us trve big brains are a part of the superior 5 club.

They just don't get it.

Rowhaus
November 12th 2019


6461 Comments

Album Rating: 4.0

This is laughable

dedex
Staff Reviewer
November 12th 2019


12829 Comments

Album Rating: 3.2 | Sound Off

I don't perceive the album as you do Zach, but have a pos anyway. Good review.

joshieboy
November 12th 2019


8323 Comments

Album Rating: 5.0

Mad review. I don't think l have ever related to a musician's lyrics more than l relate and identify with Brendan's.

jmh886
November 12th 2019


2945 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

i swear every counterparts song sounds the exact same to me until i listen to the album ten times, then i'm like oooooookk this is tight.

WeAreReturningHome
November 12th 2019


54 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

wtf is up with that guy giving this a 1.0 lmao



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