About
Counterparts started out in Hamilton, Ontario in 2007 under the name Brigade, briefly went by Sharia, and eventually landed on a name borrowed from an Alexisonfire song. That origin story says a lot about where they sit: melodic hardcore with real metalcore teeth, the kind of band that critics at Rock Sound and Exclaim! have consistently pointed to as a reason the genre is anything but finished. Through the 2010s they were lumped in with Hundredth and the Ghost Inside as one of the acts leading a wave that blurred the line between melodic hardcore and metalcore. Lineup shuffles were a constant throughout their run, including multiple drummer changes and a revolving bass chair, but the core energy never slipped. Their Pure Noise Records era brought albums like Tragedy Will Find Us and You're Not You Anymore, the latter arriving in 2017 with singles like Haunt Me and Bouquet. Vocalist Brendan Murphy also found time to co found END alongside members of Fit For An Autopsy, Misery Signals and Reign Supreme, releasing the EP From the Unforgiving Arms of God.
