Counterparts - Nothing Left To Love
Six studio albums. One hell of an achievement in a genre a lot of people considered dead and/or dying. But like metalcore, Counterparts has no indication of slowing down. Nothing Left To Love is the next chapter in singer Brendan Murphy's depression-clad, high octane, Canadian born, metal band. Much like Dance Gavin Dance, this band has had a revolving door of artists; except with Counterparts, the singer has been the consistent one. Unless, of course, you count Will Putney, who is a massive reason why these guys have been able to stay not only relevant, but at the epicenter of their genre.
It's no secret Counterparts lyrics are miserable, it's probably one of their biggest draws. The fact that Murphy has been able to keep producing high quality, sorrowful lyrics album after album is not something that should go unnoticed.
The album, is honestly, bad-freaking-ass. It's not groundbreaking or breaking any barriers between genre's but it is damn consistent, produced exceptionally and the riffs are top notch. Guitarist Alex Re has only missed one of the last 4 studio albums, so he needs to be credited here as a pretty big part of the bands sound, almost as much as Murphy. Any band in metal, needs to have a hell of a drummer as well. Kyle Brownlee, fills that requirement in spades. He debuted on You're Not You Anymore, and hasn't missed a beat since (get it?).
The album makes it feel good, to feel bad. It opens with a straight beatdown of an introductory track, and ends with easily one of the softest songs they're ever written. The last track also holds my favorite lyrics of the album, "Did the mother of cry for her son? Will mine suffer the same before I'm gone?" As much as I hate using this phrasing - it's a much more "mature" - way to convey his suicidal thoughts. More along the lines of a true writer, than an upset young adult. The beginning and the ending remind me a lot of La Disputes Somewhere at the Bottom, not musically, but in the way they bring the whole album around. Pretty cool to see a band that already has their song writing down, be able to keep adding more aspects that fill out their albums.
I was able to check these guys out live in Philly, their live show is as clean as their albums. I generally prefer music live, and I love when bands get louder an the energy fills the room so I've always avoided comparing songs from a record to a live show. Two totally different mediums. That being said, these guys absolutely killed it live. Their obviously not a band that uses the studio to clean up their sound. Murphy had the energy that you hope for at a show like this, Brownlee kept the band on time, and Re, Blake Hardman (guitar), and Tyler Williams (bass) were masters of their fretboards. And when a band is just as skilled live, and we know it's not all production value, I tend to appreciate them a little bit more.
It's no secret Counterparts lyrics are miserable, it's probably one of their biggest draws. The fact that Murphy has been able to keep producing high quality, sorrowful lyrics album after album is not something that should go unnoticed.
The album, is honestly, bad-freaking-ass. It's not groundbreaking or breaking any barriers between genre's but it is damn consistent, produced exceptionally and the riffs are top notch. Guitarist Alex Re has only missed one of the last 4 studio albums, so he needs to be credited here as a pretty big part of the bands sound, almost as much as Murphy. Any band in metal, needs to have a hell of a drummer as well. Kyle Brownlee, fills that requirement in spades. He debuted on You're Not You Anymore, and hasn't missed a beat since (get it?).
The album makes it feel good, to feel bad. It opens with a straight beatdown of an introductory track, and ends with easily one of the softest songs they're ever written. The last track also holds my favorite lyrics of the album, "Did the mother of cry for her son? Will mine suffer the same before I'm gone?" As much as I hate using this phrasing - it's a much more "mature" - way to convey his suicidal thoughts. More along the lines of a true writer, than an upset young adult. The beginning and the ending remind me a lot of La Disputes Somewhere at the Bottom, not musically, but in the way they bring the whole album around. Pretty cool to see a band that already has their song writing down, be able to keep adding more aspects that fill out their albums.
I was able to check these guys out live in Philly, their live show is as clean as their albums. I generally prefer music live, and I love when bands get louder an the energy fills the room so I've always avoided comparing songs from a record to a live show. Two totally different mediums. That being said, these guys absolutely killed it live. Their obviously not a band that uses the studio to clean up their sound. Murphy had the energy that you hope for at a show like this, Brownlee kept the band on time, and Re, Blake Hardman (guitar), and Tyler Williams (bass) were masters of their fretboards. And when a band is just as skilled live, and we know it's not all production value, I tend to appreciate them a little bit more.
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