Counterparts
The Difference Between Hell And Home

It all sounds damn personal, every phrase shouted by frontman Brendan Murphy is part of my personal experience, it is part of who I am, and the rest of the group's music, with the engaging melodies of guitarists Jesse Doreen and Adrian Lee and the powerful hardcore rhythms of Kelly Bilan on drums and Brian Kaczmarczyk on bass, creates the perfect atmosphere to describe, without the use of words, what is the essence of it all. So forgive me in advance if you think a review should not contain the reviewer, and while you're at it, forgive me for the abundant presence of parts of the lyrics if that bothers you. But I couldn't have reviewed this work any differently, believe me.

'The Difference Between Hell And Home' is a continuous conflict between the self-destructive blame of loneliness caused by one's own diversity and the realization that it is precisely this diversity that makes us who we are and who we deeply want to be, but at the same time deprives us of the companionship and affection we need. And so, it is exactly this diversity that is the crux of the matter; it is our salvation and our damnation.

Starting from this theme, 'The Difference Between Hell And Home' has it all. The feeling of having failed in everything and being a lost cause ("As far back as I can remember the failure was always there, it was the only real companion that I have ever had"), the realization that our isolation burned away the best times of our life ("We spend our golden years as living ghosts"), the regret for having lost important people after becoming too distant, as if there were an unbridgeable chasm between us and others ("I watched them leave me behind like living debris. Fortunately, I know that I'm not worth it. In my purest form, I was never good enough for anyone"). And then again the strong presence of this clear separation dividing us from everything else ("I have grown sick of the sound of my own heartbeat, and while the whole world breathes in unison my lungs are my shield to reject the world around me"), the fear of not really being superior to everyone else, but of having created this illusion to avoid facing reality ("Expose me for all that I am, the man behind the masquerade, i am my own false witness"). Until reaching the song that could represent the entire work on its own, the Compass track that has established itself among the group's fans as the symbol song of everything the Counterparts represent and the concept behind their works.

"The weight came and went and took my will to live
Spoiled by defeat, forced to drown in what's left of me
That's when breathing became routine
And I could feel myself fading
No direction, I am a compass
Constantly spinning
Constantly searching for the end
Never reaching our destination
But the goal was never when
Or where
Or who...
It was only you, you're the difference between hell and home

I watched the world give up on me"

'The Difference Between Hell And Home" is an introspective journey in search of the place we belong, perhaps in the end, we still won't be able to find our destination, but at least we will have learned something.

"The world moves on without us
We leave only footprints that fade away in time
Walk with fire and save yourself from vagrancy
We leave our spirits to retrace our steps
You are your own memorial
Find your mark and make it"

The most representative group of the current generation of Melodic Hardcore.