Counterculture
A long -time member of the metalcore elite, our friends Counterparts have earned their stripes and are now well respected amongst both fans and peers. A healthy and buoyant audience that gathers momentum and new followers in this ever- expanding genre make for positive assurances that metal is here to stay. Like many things in life things age, things fade, are out of touch or out of favour, but the harsh yet endearing quality of metal remains undeterred and resilient.
‘Love Me’ opens the album and it is essentially a build up that is the beginning, the middle and the end of this story, ingenious really, to encapsulate so much in such a short time. Again, it has been done before, notably Napalm Death ( go West Mids!) but an alternative outlook is ripe for discovery. I love the beautifully spirited chorus in ‘Wings Of Nightmares’ and the anxiety levels increase in the video for ‘Paradise And Plague’ as an anguished man presents an edge of your knife scenario, mumbly-peg, anyone? Is it possible that ‘The Hands That Used To Hold Me’ night need to be held too? Disturbing and troubling, yes but this is our reality. There is the terrifying lyric ‘I should have let you die’ from ‘Your Own Knife’ that sits neatly between healing harmonies and bone-crushing aggrobeats to make your heart explode. The quieter moments allow for reflection and recharging of batteries until the next bucketful of rage is thrown over you. It is a necessity my friends to release the anger otherwise it has nowhere to go, the tick-tick-ticking timebomb within is dangerous and needs to be channelled safely, making rock music relatable and sensitive to current trends. A little self-awareness perhaps as we find ‘ I am the dagger; I will drive into my heart’ and the chug-chug at 1.50 on ‘Cherished’ provides the desperate backdrop for a most lonely place to be. More evocative insights in ‘Imprints’ when we learn that ‘A blind world won’t read my lips, though it may hear my faint farewell’ well beam me up right now, I’m ready.
Singer Brendan Murphy leaves you inches from death and it is in those precious moments that you reach out for his hand and he reciprocates, thus pulling your ravaged form close to him so you can unburden your weary and ragged soul.
Hardcore, metalcore, punch in the gut core, it’s all good ducklings. Maybe those who feel they have ‘Nothing Left To Love’ can be heartened by the willingness to share from those who are generous and charitable, as we strive through extremely difficult circumstances.
Let’s move forward, together, as one and light the flame of hope and prosperity for all.
Counterparts – Nothing Left To Love out now via Pure Noise Records